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:

More on Floods of Planning Poppycock in Teignbridge

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:

More on Tedburn St. Mary Solar PV Farm Appeal Dismissed

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:

More on Teignbridge DC Refuse Second Application For Fulford Solar Kettle

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.

More on The Fulford Solar Kettle Gets Lost in Translation

I've received a letter from Teignbridge District Council informing me that:

The [Fulford Solar Park] application will be considered by our Planning Committee on Monday 26 November 2012 in the Council Chamber, Forde House, Newton Abbot starting at 9:45 am.

More on Teignbridge To Debate the Tedburn Solar Farm (Again!)

Teignbridge District Council have now made their decision on Solar Power Generation's request for a screening opinion concerning a proposed 14 MW solar farm on land at the Ashcombe Estate in the Haldon Hills.  Unlike other recent requests for such opinions, in this case Teignbridge have decided that an Environmental Impact Assessment WILL be required.  They state their reasons for that decision as follows:

More on EIA Required for Ashcombe Estate Solar PV Farm

As we reported recently, Lightsource Renewable Energy have applied for planning permission to build a 10.7 MW solar PV park on a 54 acre site just south of Exeter. Now:

A group of local people who are enthusiasts for renewable energy

have set up a web site with the aim of:

More on Bowhay Solar Farm Locals Launch Information Web Site

Following their community consultation back in June, Lightsource Renewable Energy have just applied to Teignbridge District Council for planning permission for the:

Construction and operation of a 10.7MW Solar Photovoltaic Farm, including ancillary buildings and security system

The application form states they propose to do this on 54 acres of land at Bowhay Farm, Shillingford Abbot. Whilst this may be correct as far as the Royal Mail are concerned, we locals know that the land in question is actually closer to Dunchideock than Shillingford. In fact if I jump up and down at the top of my garden I can just about make out the far corner of the site. If I then walk up to the top of the hill I get an extremely good view of it. Whilst these views are very familiar to me, it seems that the planners at Lightsource are unfamiliar with them, since neither appears in their Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment document.

More on Lightsource Seek Permission for a 10.7 MW Solar PV Farm Near Dunchideock

On July 9th Teignbridge District Council planning committee voted to refuse planning permission for the 40 acre Fulford Solar Park at Gold's Cross Hill near Tedburn St. Mary. In a not entirely unexpected turn of events the developer of that project, Inazin Solar, have now appealed against that decision. Not only that, but they have also simultaneously applied for planning permission for a remarkably similar new project, together with the requisite screening opinion. Consequently there are now three new entries on our interactive map and list of large scale solar PV projects in South West England, all at the same location!

More on Inazin Appeal Tedburn St Mary Solar Farm Planning Decision

Described this time last year by the BBC as "England's western-most Roman town", what is now instead referred to as a "native village" is currently being excavated just outside Ipplepen in South Devon. According to Dr Ioana Oltean from the University of Exeter:

More on Further Excavations at "Roman Town" in South Devon