No Solar in Thaw Valley - Protect this designated Special Landscape Area
- Target:
- Vale of Glamorgan Planning Committee
- Region:
- United Kingdom
A planning application has been made by Lightsource to install and operate a 4.36MW solar farm and associated infrastructure at Treguff Farm near to Cowbridge.
This has been refused twice by the council on the following grounds:
"The proposed site is located within the Lower Thaw Valley Special Landscape Area, and forms part of the Llancarfan Historic Landscape LANDMAP character area", which has been evaluated as Outstanding (of National or International Importance). The proposed development of a ground mounted solar photovoltaic facility, by reason of its location, size and appearance, would result in an adverse and harmful impact on the wider character and setting of this historic and sensitive landscape and reduce the overall visual amenity of this part of countryside...This impact on the historic landscape would therefore outweigh any benefits attributed to sustainable energy production and reduction of carbon footprint, such that the proposal fails to comply with chapter 12 of Planning Policy Wales and section 3.15 of Technical Advice Note 8 - Planning for Renewable Energy, and is also contrary to Policies ENV4 - Special Landscape Areas, ENV10 - Conservation of the Countryside, ENV11 - Protection of Landscape Features, ENV17 - Protection of Built and Historic Environment and ENV27 - Design of New Developments of the Adopted Unitary Development Plan 1996-2011".
However, the developer has now appealed against this decision.
The proposed solar farm will consist of 18,000 solar panels occupying 10.79 hectares of greenfield land within the Lower Thaw Valley Special Landscape area. The site is within an exceptionally scenic area, 900m from the conservation village of Flemingston and adjacent to a site of importance for nature conservation.
The site also contains a historical Romano-British enclosure and evidence of prehistoric settlement. We, the local residents, are appalled by the proposed development. We urge interested parties to read the application (available online via the Vale of Glamorgan website) and to make their objection to this totally inappropriate industrial scale development within the rural Vale heard by signing this petition.
Please act now, before 22nd May 2014, to support the council's decision and object to the appeal.
We, the undersigned, support the council's refusal of this development and object to the appeal against their decision.
You can further help this campaign by sponsoring it
The No Solar in Thaw Valley - Protect this designated Special Landscape Area petition to Vale of Glamorgan Planning Committee was written by No Solar in Thaw Valley and is in the category City & Town Planning at GoPetition.