Solar farm near Desborough granted 15-year extension
A solar farm near a North Northants business park has been given permission to extend its lifespan to 40 years v.1
A solar farm near a Northamptonshire business park has been given permission to extend its lifespan to 40 years, despite concerns it will prolong an “industrialised visual character” in the open countryside.
The solar site, which is located on a field to the south of the Eckland Lodge Business Park, between Braybrooke and Desborough, was first given permission in 2015 and subsequently became operational two years later.
Applicant Eckland Lodge Business Park has asked North Northamptonshire Council (NNC) to alter its planning permission, which requires the lifespan of the solar park to be limited to 25 years. Under the new proposals, the solar farm will be allowed to operate for a further 15 years, at which point it will be decomissioned and the land will be reinstated.
Members heard at a planning committee meeting that the original time limit was imposed as the operational life of the solar panels was incorrectly thought to have been about 25 years. The applicant has now said that, with proper maintenance, the site could be operational for 40 years and that decommissioning it any earlier would be “wasteful”.
However, Braybrooke Parish Council objected to the application, saying that extending the life of the solar park would be a “material shift from temporary to long-term land use — prolonging a non-agricultural, industrialised visual character”. They also raised concerns that the extension could set an “unintended precedent” that long-term energy infrastructure is acceptable in rural locations.
Thrapston councillor David Brackenbury (Conservative) commented that he felt “a little bit uneasy” that the council was just being asked to “shrug our shoulders and say yes” to extending the solar park’s lifespan, when the principle of development was only originally accepted for 25 years.
Green Kettering Central councillor James Towns replied: “Operational lives were not fully understood in a real world environment for solar panels and they’ve been shown to last longer and have a longer serviceable life and value.
“If they’re removed they’re only going to appear somewhere else in the countryside, so I don’t have any issue with extending the life of the solar farm, and the land use will still be reversible if they want to take it back to agricultural purposes.”
Cllr Jennie Bone (Reform UK, Higham Ferrers) added: “I can understand Braybrooke’s position, but this is a good working order site and if it can last longer it’s a no-brainer for me I’m afraid, let’s use it.”
The planning committee approved the time extension, with nine members voting in favour and one abstention. The new lifespan will now see the solar park operational until 2057 instead of 2042, when it was originally due to be decommissioned.