Part of a farm in rural Preston is to be covered in solar panels – but sheep will still be able to graze on the grass beneath them.
The scheme, at Lower House Farm in Lewth, will generate enough electricity to power almost 5,900 homes.
Members of Preston City Council’s planning committee gave the green light to the green energy project – on a trio of fields off Lewth Lane – after hearing that it would be largely screened from public view and would leave the agricultural use of the land intact.
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The development will see fixed solar panels mounted on metal frames with legs no taller than 3.25 metres.
The firm behind the proposal said the site – close to the Woodplumpton and New Mill brooks, on the border with Wyre – provided a rare opportunity for such a development in Preston, because of the presence of a substation nearby.
Doug Moulton, the agent for the application, told the committee meeting: “A solar farm can only be located where there is capacity for the renewable energy generated to be [transferred] into the grid.
“There are very few options to connect renewable energy schemes within the Preston area. Most substations are located within urban areas. The countryside location is a necessity due to the nature of the development.”
He added that the plot was surrounded on two sides by bunds, while existing hedgerows also provide “robust screening”
“Significant new planting is proposed, with groups of trees that reflect the local landscape character,” Mr. Moulton added.
The fields in question – totalling 24 hectares – are also located some distance from the main road access to the farm.
A report by council planning officers recommending approval of the application noted that the development will “change the character of the area, with a loss of some open, rural land and its replacement with electrical infrastructure”.
However, the panels – and other on-site infrastructure – would appear as “largely unobtrusive features within the surrounding landscape”, it added.
The development is temporary and is expected to have a lifespan of 40 years before being decommissioned and the area returned to traditional grassland.
Asked by committee member Cllr Freddie Bailey how the grass could continue to grow when covered by the panels, Mr. Moulton said the secret lay in the “seed mix” – and the use of a more “shade tolerant” variety.
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