Ridgewell Church of England Primary School’s plans for 83 solar panels on its roofs approved

A bid to install 83 solar panels at a village school have been approved.

Braintree District Council approved the plans to install the panels on the roofs of Ridgewell Church of England Primary School, in Church Lane, near Haverhill, on October 15.

The school is in a conservation area and has two listed buildings close to it, St Laurence’s Church and The Rectory.

A planning statement said the visual impact of the panels would be minimal as they would only be visible on approach to the entrance of the school.

They will be set back one metre from the edges of the flat roof while the school’s sloped roofs, as they are further back and behind trees, have almost no lines of sight to them.

The statement said the solar panels would provide a ‘sustainable and green future’ which the school community wants to adopt and would further improve its decarbonisation journey.

Some concerns were raised in the community over the potential for glint and glare, but a survey cleared these up.

Ridgewell Parish Council supported the proposals.