Revised plans for a solar farm in Bardwell submitted to West Suffolk Council
A new consultation has been launched after revisions to a proposed solar farm in Bardwell, near Bury St Edmunds, were submitted to planners.
Boom Power wants to develop a solar farm on about 96 hectares of land on part of Euston Estate – located to the east of Firsfield, Bowbeck, Bardwell.
The firm says the farm could generate enough electricity to cover the annual needs of about 13,727 family homes across west Suffolk.
The original plans – for ground-mounted photovoltaic solar arrays together with substations, inverter/transformer stations, grid connection infrastructure, grid cable route, site accesses, access gates, internal access tracks, security measures, storage compound and ancillary infrastructure, landscaping and biodiversity enhancements – were submitted to West Suffolk Council in March, prompting a flurry of public comments.
Tracey Robinson, of Heath Road, Sapiston, said: "I feel it is important to support renewable clean energy.
"Although I’m aware of the mentality ‘not in my back yard’ is always going to be abundant, once the work has been completed I don’t think people will really notice it."
Mrs H McDonald, of Quaker Lane, Bardwell, said: "Schemes such as this have been shown to increase soil health and as a retired farmer, I see that and any gains in biodiversity as vital."
But Edward Bartlett, of Church Road, Bardwell, objected to the plans on the grounds of misuse of productive farmland, the scale and location and precedent.
He said: "The prosed development is on a landscape-wide scale: larger than the neighbouring villages of Bardwell, Barningham and Coney Weston put together."
Suffolk Highways said the development was acceptable in principle but said sufficient staff car parking would need to be provided and that planning approval should include a number of highways conditions.
Now, revised location and cabling route plans have been submitted to planners.
The consultation is running until November 11 as a result of the proposal revisions.