Multiple UK Solar Farm Appeals Follow Council Rejections, Delays

Several solar farm projects across the UK and Ireland face planning challenges and appeals due to concerns over environmental, agricultural, and local impacts. In Arklow, Ireland, a proposed 27.2-hectare solar farm was refused planning permission due to its visual impact, loss of agricultural land, and insufficient supporting information, prompting an appeal to An Comisiún Pleanála. In Scotland, Perth and Kinross Council objected to a 110MW solar and battery energy park on 105 hectares of prime agricultural land, sparking a public inquiry despite national policies allowing such developments. Near Haddon in Cambridgeshire, UK, Wessex Solar Energy has launched an appeal after Huntingdonshire District Council failed to decide on a 40,000-panel solar farm, with concerns raised about safety risks to nearby Sibson Aerodrome and the loss of farmland. WSE argues their smaller project addresses previous objections, emphasizing its potential to provide renewable energy for 7,600 homes while minimizing environmental harm through mitigation measures. These cases illustrate the tension between expanding renewable energy infrastructure and protecting agricultural land, local amenities, and ecological considerations.