Why have we chosen this site?

The site has good solar irradiation levels with fields located on a gentle southern slope and potential visibility of the proposed solar farm is largely limited by the existing surrounding woodland and hedgerows.

The closest settlement area lies 0.75km south, with few residences within close proximity and would lie outside of any statutory environmental, archaeological and landscape designations.

The site has also been chosen for its proximity to a viable grid connection.

Planning and Environmental Considerations

RES will design the solar farm so that it will fit sensitively in the surrounding landscape. A number of detailed assessments are being carried out to ensure any impact upon the environment, landscape, heritage and local residents is appropriately assessed and mitigated. These assessments include:

Landscape and Visual

The site is not located within nor close to any nationally or locally designated landscapes. Although the site is located in the Green Belt, it is anticipated that the benefits of renewable energy production and net biodiversity gain from the development will outweigh any potential negative impacts on the Green Belt. Effects on the Green Belt are anticipated to be localised with recreational routes preserved and where practicable enhanced.

Potential visibility of the solar farm would be largely limited by the existing surrounding woodland and hedgerows.   Inward views from the closest settlements of Gotham to the northeast and East Leake to the east would be largely limited by intervening landform and vegetation.

The final locations of any structures will also be suitably set back from residences and the bridleways within and adjacent to the site to ensure visual amenity is not significantly affected. Options for path improvement, including adding interpretive information relating to the solar farm and the local area will be explored as part of the iterative design process.

Ecology

The proposed solar farm does not lie within any statutory environmental designated sites. The majority of the site comprises arable habitats (primarily cattle-grazed improved grassland and grass leys), which are considered to be of low ecological value. 

A Biodiversity Management Plan (BMP) will be produced and will be implemented during the construction and operational phases of the solar farm, if consented. This will involve the creation of new habitats offering food and shelter to wildlife and, as a result, it is anticipated that the project will result in a net gain for biodiversity.

Cultural Heritage and Archaeology

There are no designated heritage assets recorded within the boundary of the proposed solar farm.  Although no designated sites lie within the boundary, the local Historic Environment Record shows two non-designated sites present on the site. These were investigated during an archaeology site visit to ensure there were no standing remains that could be impacted by the design of the development.

As no recorded designated sites are present and the two non-designated sites do not have any known standing remains, no direct effects upon recorded features will occur.  A full Cultural Heritage Impact Assessment will be carried out in order to assess potential direct and indirect impacts resulting from the project, including potential impacts upon hitherto-unknown sub-surface archaeology.

Flood Assessment

The Application Site is wholly within Flood Zone 1 (at little to no risk of flooding).  A Flood Risk Assessment will be undertaken to assess the potential risks of flooding and any mitigation methods that will be required. However, the site infrastructure will be contained within Flood Zone 1 and therefore a development of this type is deemed appropriate and the effects of flooding will not be significant.

Traffic

A Construction Traffic Management Plan will be provided to support the planning application, which will outline the overall framework for managing the movement of construction and delivery traffic to and from the solar farm, as well as considering the type of traffic that will be generated. The traffic assessment for the operational and decommissioning phases will also be considered.

Although increased traffic volumes will be generated during the construction period, the overall volume of traffic generated by a solar farm of this scale is generally considered to be low. It is anticipated that the vast majority of deliveries to site will be on standard Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs).  The operational phase of the solar farm is anticipated to have negligible trip generation potential with approximately 10-15 Light Goods Vehicles (LGVs) expected every year for scheduled maintenance checks, with additional visits required to attend to remedial issues when necessary.

Noise

Solar panels themselves do not generate noise. The main noise source associated with a solar farm will be within the inverter stations.  Small fans would operate within the inverters, during daylight hours only, and should not pose any noise disturbance.

Glint and Glare

In terms of reflectance, photovoltaic solar panels are not highly reflective surfaces. They are designed to absorb sunlight and not to reflect it. Several studies have shown that photovoltaic panels have similar reflectance characteristics to water, which is much lower than glass, steel, snow and white concrete by comparison.