Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

Members to declare any interest as appropriate in respect of items to be considered at this meeting.

Councillor Posnett held a standing personal interest in any matters relating to the Leicestershire County Council due to her role as a County Councillor.

Councillor Chandler declared a prejudicial interest due to the ownership of the site in question being part of the Belvoir Estate and her family farm rented land from the Belvoir Estate. Also her son occupied land on Castle View Road.

Land East of Jericho Covert, Jericho Lane, Barkestone Le Vale

(Councillor Chandler here left the meeting and moved into the public gallery due to the interest declared at minute PL28.)

The Senior Planning Officer (AC) addressed the Committee and provided a summary of the application and advised the application was recommended for approval subject to conditions.

The Senior Planning Officer responded to Member queries as follows:

·       Spacing between the rows of solar panels was 4-5 metres

·       The site comprised 183 acres

·       Electricity generated from the solar farm would transfer to the national grid and benefit 15,000 homes

·       The electricity generated could be used anywhere in the UK

·       The land would be repurposed as a solar farm for 40 years and after then the land would be reverted to agricultural use

·       Some of the visuals displayed at the meeting were taken from one of the highest points, being Belvoir Castle

·       The panoramic view shown from Belvoir Castle was approximately 8 per cent of a 30 degree arc

·       The land in question had been classified as grade 3b which was not high quality land and was available for alternative usage in accordance with  policy EN10

·       Fire risk would be considered along with health and safety, maintenance and repair and these were separate requirements to the planning process

·       Access for emergency vehicles would be along Jericho Lane

·       The Solicitor advised that emergency access was not part of the planning application process

·       There were ecological gains in terms of a wildflower meadow and other landscaping initiatives and the ecological plan would include conditions to protect wildlife

·       Access would be by a new road across existing farmland and there would be screening adjacent to the public right of way

·       Solar panels would be reused and recycled and this was referenced in the report

·       There would be CCTV to monitor the site and take account of the flightpath for which an assessment had been completed

·       EN10 advised that category 3b land was not the best agricultural quality

·       In response to mention of a Cabinet Minister advising against the use of category 3b land for solar farms, the Solicitor advised that he was not aware of this information and this was not a current planning policy consideration

Pursuant to Chapter 2, Part 9, Paragraphs 2.8-2.28 of the Council’s Constitution in relation to public speaking at Planning Committee, the Chair allowed the following to give a 3 minute presentation:

·       Councillor Tom Parry, Barkestone, Plungar and Redmile Parish Council

Councillor Parry responded to Member queries as follows:

·       There were other options to help meet the climate emergency, individuals and business may wish to take up solar panels on public buildings and houses, but this solar farm would take up all grid capacity and others that may wish to feed into the grid would not be able to if the  ...  view the full minutes text for item PL30