Teignbridge District Council have today decided that no Environmental Impact Assessment will be needed for proposals to build two large scale solar PV arrays either side of Rydon Farm near Ogwell. Their decision letter is addressed to Orta Solar, although the "pre-application enquiry" also mentioned Steadfast Solar Limited. In it Teignbridge's case officer states that:

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Earlier this year South Hams District Council decided that no preliminary Environmental Impact Assessment would be needed for proposals to build two large scale solar PV arrays near Coombeshead Farmhouse outside Diptford near Totnes. Now it looks as though developers AEE Renewables will be making a full planning application for the 17 MW solar park at some point in the not too distant future. They have started what they describe as a "project blog" which explains the ins and outs of the process. One of the early articles discusses "Future energy requirements for the UK", and points out that:

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On November 26th 2012 Teignbridge District Council planning committee voted to refuse planning permission for Inazin Solar's application to construct a 13.5 Ha solar photovoltaic "farm" on land owned by the Fulford Estate near Gold's Cross Hill, between Tedburn St. Mary and Cheriton Bishop. I presume the fact that I objected to that application, at the second time of asking, explains why I have just received a letter from Teignbridge DC which says (amongst other things) that:

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I was idly reading this week's edition of The Economist magazine over breakfast this morning. As a one time table tennis player with a penhold grip myself, I'd just finished reading their obituary of Zhang Zedong when I noticed an advertisement on the facing page. It seems that on March 12th The Economist will be hosting "The Arctic Summit" at the Hotel Bristol in Oslo, Norway. According to The Economist the summit will present "A new vista for trade, energy and the environment" to:

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BBC Devon report today that:

A countryside group has raised concerns about Devon farmland being taken out of food production for solar farms.

The "countryside group" the BBC is referring to is in fact The Campaign to Protect Rural England. According to the BBC, Penny Mills from the CPRE has said that:

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The minutes of the meeting of the Teignbridge District Council planning committee held on November 26th have now been published. For some strange reason their coverage of my own contribution to those events is rather brief. It reads as follows:

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In some good news for those who, like me, oppose large scale solar PV parks on what assorted planning regulations refer to as "our best and most versatile agricultural land", the Planning Inspectorate have dismissed Inazin Solar's appeal against the decision of Teignbridge District Council to refuse planning permission for the 40 acre Fulford Solar Park at Gold's Cross Hill near Tedburn St. Mary.  The inspector needed to make two site visits since he:

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Whilst it doesn't say as much on their web site just yet, Cornwall County Council have effectively approved the application from German developers Kronos Solar to construct the 25 MW Canworthy Solar Farm on 50 hectares of land at Maxworthy near Launceston.  Cornwall planning committee have approved the scheme, but delegated responsibility for dotting all the Is and crossing all the Ts on the conditions associated with the application to their planning officers. This will make it the larget solar PV park in Cornwall, and in the UK for that matter.

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After diverting around a flood or three I've just returned home from Newton Abbot, where I put on something of a performance before the Teignbridge District Council planning committee as they debated Inazin Solar's application for a 13.5 Ha solar photovoltaic "farm" on land owned by the Fulford Estate near Gold's Cross Hill, between Tedburn St. Mary and Cheriton Bishop.  Due to Inazin's apparent difficulty comprehending the subtle difference between MW, MWh and MWh/year I have somewhat impudently christened the project "The Fulford Solar Kettle". I was up first, and this is the approximate text of the impassioned speech I then delivered.  I say approximately because I did get a bit excited and thus diverted slightly from my hastily scribbled script on one or two occasions:

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After a fair few emails and phone calls my penultimate set of objections to the second coming of the proposed Fulford Solar Park at Gold's Cross Hill near Tedburn St. Mary finally made their way onto the Teignbridge DC planning website this afternoon. If you enjoy a bit of a giggle download the three documents posted on Friday 23rd November.

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