Solar farm plans recommended for refusal

The plan would include a 26MW solar farm and 10MW battery storage scheme which would operate for 40 years.

Some of the objections included the facility’s potential impact on wildlife and the loss of “productive agricultural land”.

Meanwhile, supporters said the landscape’s beauty was already affected by the nearby M6.

Shap Parish Council unanimously opposed the plan, saying it was “excessive” and, if a cable was put through the village as planned, would cause “untold problems” with traffic as well as damaging local utility supplies.

The applicants said the scheme would support national energy policy with solar farms a “key component” of moving from fossil fuels to renewable sources.

They also said it would create local jobs and have a “positive impact on the local community”, while its visual effect would be mitigated to blend in with the surrounding area.

Council officials said they were recommending the scheme be rejected because it was a “major industrial-esque development” which would cause an “unacceptably disproportionate environmental cost” to an “undulating area of open countryside”.