Village left 'betrayed' over U-turn decision to turn 14 green fields into solar farm

A village has been left "betrayed" after a U-turn on a decision to turn 14 green field into a solar farm.

Durham County Council turned down the proposal for land near Burnhope after hundreds of objections and a High Court appeal.

But this decision has now been overturned by the Planning Inspectorate.

The Reform-led council has now said it will raise the issue with Luke Akehurst, Labour MP for North Durham, but the local authority has been advised a further legal challenge would likely not succeed.

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Plans were initially approved by the council in 2023, but a campaign group won a judicial review of the decision, which lead it to being quashed by a high court judge.

Residents have said they were stunned by the decision, with concerns raised by community groups the development would "destroy" the environment.

Ian Galloway, who leads community group Keep it Green, said curlew breeding sites would be affected by the solar panels, set to be installed by Applicant Lightsource bp.

Mr Galloway told the BBC: "You're destroying the environment and you're destroying a community to get a little bit of energy on a sunny day.

"They're turning a lovely rural community into an industrial site, it's truly awful."

But Applicant Lightsource bp has said the scheme was "carefully" designed to minimised the impact to the environment, with measures to "enhance" the land.

A spokesman for the company said: "This approval follows a thorough process of detailed site selection, environmental assessments, and design refinement.

"We also engaged with the local community, updating our plans in response to feedback before submitting the application."

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There are also concerns the solar farm would impede the only flat route of the uphill village. An Applicant Lightsource bp spokesman has said existing public rights of way and footpaths would be retained.

The development will start just 250 metres away from local resident Ian Wilkinson's home, who has said he would be "sandwiched" between the solar field and another proposed farm across the road from his property.

The 65-year-old said: "We've spent hours and hours fighting this.

"All of that time and effort is part of my retirement, which is what I did not expect, trying to defend my home, the surroundings of my home."

He feels the former mining had been "betrayed", adding the planning inspector needed to "drop his head in shame".

"We've gone 150 years producing energy for the country. Just give it a rest for us," he said.

A spokesperson for the Planning Inspectorate said appeals were determined on individual merits.

Local Labour councillor Alison Gray, who had opposed the development, said the site was "entirely unsuitable".

She said: "Once again, Burnhope is being burdened with the negative impacts of the UK's energy demands despite this land having originally been gifted to the village following both deep mining and subsequent opencast operations."

And Durham County Council's Reform leader Andrew Husband said they would now inquire for Government intervention.

"As an administration we are very disappointed by the Inspectorate's decision to ignore the concerns of local residents and overturn a decision made by our local Planning Committee, so I will be raising this further with the local MP as this now requires government intervention," he said.

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