Planned solar farm between Gorefield and Tydd St Giles will power over 22,000 homes

Plans for a solar farm that will produce enough energy for 22,388 homes are set to be decided by not one but two local authorities.

Pathfinder Clean Energy Ltd has applied for permission to build the solar farm on 140.5 hectares of land east of Guanockgate Road in Gorefield.

A planning and design statement submitted alongside the application explains: “The proposed solar farm will have a capacity of approximately 49.9MW using solar panels fixed to the ground via metal piles and supporting infrastructure.

“This translates into generation of approximately 69.4 Gigawatt hours (GWh) of clean renewable energy each year which will be distributed to homes and businesses via a connection on-site to the local electricity grid. This will be enough to power in excess of 22,388 homes and offset over 16,200 tonnes of CO2 per year.”

A covering letter from Pathfinder Clean Energy’s agent Third Revolution Project explained discussions have taken place with both Fenland District Council and South Holland District, and each authority will be making separate decisions on the proposals for the part that lies within their area.

The £304,950 planning fee has been paid to South Holland Council as the majority of the site falls within its remit.

It goes on to say: “This project will make an extremely significant contribution to the delivery of renewable energy infrastructure for both districts. The scheme has been carefully designed, taking into account heritage, landscaping, ecological, transport, amenity, and safety considerations.

“Comprehensive pre-application discussions have taken place with the local community.”

The letter adds: “The scheme includes high standards of mitigation to ensure harm is avoided and is designed to accord with national and local planning policies.

“The site was chosen to be in close proximity to a grid connection with available capacity. There is a clear national and local need for solar projects and significant weight should be afforded to national and local renewable and low carbon energy policies.”

However, the proposals have already sparked a number of objections via Fenland’s planning portal among them is Dawn Lutwyche.

She said: “Why don't panels put on roofs , I've walked and ridden my horse this way for over 30 years, lovely countryside, I don't want to see a monstrosity of those shining horrible solar panels. Farmland was meant to be farmed not to have large amounts of steel and glass put on it. think for our area it's a very bad thing.”