A parish council has unanimously voted to oppose plans for a new solar farm, with concerns over noise, ecology impacts, and damage to the area’s Roman and Anglo-Saxon heritage.
In a letter submitted to Breckland Council - who have the power to approve or refuse the solar farm - Great Dunham Parish Council said it objected, following the unanimous vote.
The solar project, known as JAFA Solar Farm, is proposed to be built on roughly 233.3 acres of land, west of Palgrave Road and between the villages of Great Dunham and Little Dunham, near Swaffham.
A cable would travel approximately 8km south from the site down to Swaffham substation, where it would connect to the electricity grid.
But Great Dunham Parish Council said the scheme was in an inappropriate location.
It said: “Instead of removing this extremely significant area of agricultural land from food production, consideration should be given to the siting of such a development on an alternative brownfield site, or disused airfield such as at Pickenham.”
It added that “the ‘bowl’ effect of the location will result in noise pollution from the inverters and cooling systems”, and that the area is home to bats, roe deer, barn owls, and other species which could lose habitat space.
It also warned of the “probable Roman settlement in the locality of the development site”, along with Anglo-Saxon finds, and whether they would be affected.
Little Dunham Parish Council meanwhile said they could support the application on condition of better landscape mitigation, a plan for the movement of HGVs during the project’s construction, and time limits for the hours in which the air-conditioning fans would be allowed to operate.
An initial version of the plans had suggested a smaller area of just 193 acres be taken up by the project but the scheme’s footprint was expanded following a consultation with residents.
A statement submitted on behalf of the developer, Low Carbon Solar Park 15 Ltd, said the project would generate around 49.9 megawatts of renewable energy – enough electricity to power roughly 16,500 homes annually.
It pointed out that Breckland Council has declared a climate emergency and the government has committed to meeting a legally binding target of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
And it said there would be a number of ecological benefits, including habitat creation and biodiversity net gains of 87.87pc.
The council is due to issue a decision on the project by January 26.
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