Construction of huge solar farm spanning six fields in open Northamptonshire countryside will create 50 jobs

A large 77 hectare solar farm can now be built on open countryside in Northamptonshire, after getting the green light from the council on Tuesday, July 16.

The renewable energy development will cover six empty fields west of Welford, on the Northamptonshire-Leicestershire border. After construction, the solar panels will generate up to 49.9MW of energy, which would power approximately 14,500 homes according to the developer.

The applicant, Welford Solar Farms Limited, said the construction period for the development would create 50 jobs locally. After the project is complete it would reportedly save up to 11,500 tonnes of carbon each year over its 40 year lifespan.

The closest property, Sybole Farm, will be surrounded by the solar farm on three sides. Summing up the homeowner’s concerns, members at the planning meeting heard his worries that the development would bring an “oppressive nature” to his family’s residential living and that they would be disproportionately affected by construction and traffic noise.

A West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) planning officer clarified that there will be a maximum of 50 HGV movements in and out of the site every day during construction, but it will rapidly decline to around one a month for maintenance work after it has been fully built.

He added that the solar farm would ultimately be “a silent neighbour” once complete and that it should be brought into consideration that the site is currently an arable field which would likely generate noise from agricultural heavy machinery.

Director of Welford Solar Farms Limited, Tim Hancock, told the meeting: “We build, own and operate our projects over the long term in partnerships with landowners and our host community.

“Welford solar farm is ideally located by power directly to Daventry International Freight Terminal, Motorway service areas and proposed HGV charging installations. We will help to contribute to meeting the UK’s need to reach net zero and help with energy security and affordability.

“We do however recognise that a proposal for a large project in a rural area results in some significant change locally. We can only locate solar farms where a suitable land area is available and where there is a sufficient grid capacity.”

Welford Parish Council raised no objections to the plans but set out a number of requests including carrying out ongoing maintenance on the site and regularly monitoring access routes that their heavy goods vehicles use.

WNC unanimously approved the solar farm subject to conditions, including a construction management plan which will limit the harm and noise caused to neighbouring areas whilst the panels are being set up.