Benefit of solar development outweighs Green Belt designation

On 13 September 2024 an inspector granted planning permission for the “Erection of a Solar Photovoltaic Farm with supporting infrastructure and battery storage, inverters and transformers, fencing, landscaping works and connecting cable” in Uttlesford.

The application was submitted under s62A of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (“the Act”), which allows for applications to be made directly to the Secretary of State (SoS), where the Secretary of State considers a local planning authority is not adequately performing its function of determining applications for planning permission for major development under Part 3 of the Act. Uttlesford District Council (the Council) have been designated by the Secretary of State since February 2022.

The Council originally refused outline planning permission at the site for a solar farm in April 2022 on a number of grounds, including that the site is identified within the Council’s local plan as Green Belt. Paragraph 152 of the National Planning Policy Framework (“NPPF”) states that development is harmful to the Green Belt and should not be approved ‘except in very special circumstances’. The Council found that there were no ‘very special circumstances’ in this instance, either individually or collectively that clearly outweighed the harm. It also found, if granted, there would be adverse impacts in respect of the development and its conflict with the development plan.

The original application in conjunction with a solar farm application in the East Herts District, which was not in the Green Belt, was approved in January 2023. These two planning applications each would have delivered 49.9 MW of renewable energy.

The Inspector granted permission subject to conditions and concluded that whilst there was some limited conflict with specific policies of the adopted development plan, he did not consider as a whole that they conflicted.

In making his decision, whilst the Inspector also found, like the Council did in their 2022 refusal, that the proposal would constitute inappropriate development within the Green Belt, contrary to Paragraph 152 of the NPPF, he concluded that the wider environmental benefits provided substantial weight in favour of the proposal because the renewable energy created from the site would potentially power 7,000 local homes by renewable energy rather than non-renewable energy. 

This decision highlights that when deciding whether to grant permission for renewable energy schemes in the Green Belt  where they do not necessarily comply with local plan policy or have any ‘very special circumstances’ as per the NPPF, consideration should be given to the overall wider benefits such as environmental benefits which justify the grant of permission,

If the draft consultation of the new NPPF is adopted, then there will be a number of key changes directing decision makers to give significant weight to renewable energy projects and sites.

TLT has extensive experience in advising on renewable energy schemes. If you would like to discuss the requirements, please get in touch.

This publication is intended for general guidance and represents our understanding of the relevant law and practice as at October 2024. Specific advice should be sought for specific cases. For more information see our terms and conditions.