Plans for a 49.9MW solar power plant, put forward by independent power producer (IPP) Enviromena, have been recommended for approval by planning officers.
The Grimethorpe Solar Farm will be located in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, north-west of Grimethorpe, east of Cudworth and south-west of Brierley. The application is before Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council and a decision is expected this month.
An initial proposal for the project was consulted in January 2023, with feedback from the public as Enviromena made several changes to the project:
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Reduction of the land area used for the proposed development by more than 20%.
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Reduction of the number of proposed solar panels by more than 10%.
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Removal of solar panels in the most visually sensitive areas.
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It is proposed that more landscaping and planting be added to improve site screening to further reduce visual impacts.
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Increased Net Gain for Biodiversity (BNG) and introduced a public green space.
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Improved provision of community benefits to support projects in the local community.
Enviromena has committed to using local suppliers and contractors during the construction and operation of the power plant.
The development is proposed to take place on ‘green belt’ land, on which many types of developments are considered ‘inappropriate’ under the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF).
However, a update of the NPPF introduced in 2024 states that the “wider environmental benefits associated with increased production of energy from renewable sources” mean that the usual stance is not being taken for renewable energy generation projects.
Furthermore, the current government has introduced the concept of ‘grey belt’ land, the development of which would not contribute to the problems that the green belt designation is intended to prevent: urban expansion and the connection of individual villages by development.
At the end of last year a the city council’s refusal to grant planning permission for another Enviromena project was overturned by the Planning Inspectorate (PINS) on the grounds that the development actually took place on gray belt land.
The company said at the time that it expected the decision to impact other renewable energy proposals considering the status and appropriate use of such lands.
No official objections to the Grimethorpe solar power station have been raised by statutory advisers, but a local dissent has been registered in a Facebook group urging residents to sign a petition to stop the project going ahead.
