PA12/05854 Site address: Land At Lanthrone, Cross Lane, Tideford , PL12 5JY Proposal: Installation of free-standing solar photovoltaic arrays Parish: St. Germans Applicant: Elgin Energy EsCo Ltd

68. St Germans Parish Council - (29 August 2012) St Germans Parish Council met on 30 July 2012 and I have been asked to write to you to formally object to this application. 39 members of the public attended our meeting and it is clear that there is large scale opposition to this proposal on grade 2 agricultural land. The Ward Members are opposed to this development and consider that it will have a detrimental visual effect on this and Area of Great Landscape Value. The Parish Council find it extraordinary that an Environmental Impact Assessment has not yet been asked for. An EIA was sanctioned when there was an earlier proposal for a road on this site and indeed this had to be ‘sunk’ into the ground to avoid visual impact. The solar farm will have a huge visual impact and yet no request for an EIA? The Parish Council consider it is essential that an EIA is requested and that the application be called into the relevant Committee for decision and should not be dealt with under delegated powers. If the application is taken to a Committee decision, the Parish Council would like to be notified as we will take our opportunity to speak on that occasion. Surely should have a development plan for the whole county, to ensure that brown field sites and industrial/farm buildings are used before grade 2 agricultural land is even considered for solar farms. It seems to local people that the Planning Authority used to ensure that the rural landscape was protected but commercial interest seems to be at the forefront here. People are concerned that Cornwall Council is riding roughshod over local concerns. This is largely due to the lack of consultation and no local engagement. Indeed, site notices for this application had not even been posted as at 2 August 2012 and people are understandably concerned as to the reasons for this omission/delay. Hedgerows will be destroyed. Some already have been, to facilitate this project, which we assume could be down to manipulating the system to obtain the necessary planning permission. We understand this will be the largest solar farm in the country and we are also aware that there are some 20 more such proposals all within a 7 mile radius of St Germans Parish Council. The required fencing will be totally out of place in the midst of this rural community and will have a negative impact on neighbouring properties. This solar farm will generate more energy than is required locally whilst degrading the local environment. We do not accept there will be any real employment due to this. At best, locals may be employed to dig the holes but all technical expertise will be brought in to the area and the development will be of no benefit to our community. The Parish Council would bring to your notice that Cornwall Council refused planning permission for the conversion of two barns on this site by reason of visual intrusion. Cornwall Council surely cannot now grant planning permission for something of far more visual impact over a huge area by comparison. Ultimately, the community feel that this application is not about sustainable energy but financial opportunism by land owners and energy firms at the expense of local communities. St Germans Parish Council strongly objects to this application and urge Cornwall Council to refuse planning permission. 69. With Parish Council (27 July 2012) (Adjoining PC) No Observations.

Olive Egglestone- Divisional member-As local member of St Germans I am asking for refusal of this application. I am not against solar farms because at we have one of the first solar farms that was put in in Cornwall.

My concern is with the quality of land. In Cornwall’s Structural plan it states ‘we must protect the best and most versatile land and agricultural ground.’ Carradon District Local Plan 2007 stated ‘that the development proposals should not have an unacceptable impact on the character and appearance of the immediate and wider landscape, all suitable diversification must not harm the rule of character and appearance of the locality or effect the ability of agricultural holdings or resulting in the loss of the best and most versatile land.’ And I think that is a very important statement with regard to these solar farms that are springing up everywhere.

Natural in March 2012 states that where significant development of agricultural land is demonstrated to be necessary local planning authorities should seek to use areas that are poorer quality land and this has been a contentious issue with this application. It would seem that the defining issue with relation to this is the application is the quality of that land. As you can see a fresh report has been submitted by a chartered scientist. Has the land therefore been downgraded deliberately? The report indicates that 61.8% of that land is good, 28% of the land is moderate and only 5.3% of the land is poor. I think the land has a good agricultural future and therefore I ask you to refuse this application

Councilor May St Germans Parish

I was heartened to hear that some of you had read your way through this report. A brief history of me. I am chairman of the Parish Council; the Vice Chair and County Councillor are here today. It was basically unanimous against this application for the site, where the site is what the site means to us. It is a vast visual impact. Another councillor said here ‘in these austere times we are offered a £40,000 payment which we are quite happy to turn down rather than take it.’ We don’t want this development. I have three of my councillor’s working for power companies at high level they have voted against this as well. But we are actually disappointed that we are actually here today because when the local council said that localism is how it is going to move forward. When we are here and we are discussing a unanimous decision. I don’t expect to be down here I expect it to be stopped at my local level for the right reasons. The planning office hasn’t done quite as good a job as they should have one of the buildings down there is actually a cottage so they have got that wrong. There have been two applications to renovate it over the last twenty years so some of the homework needs to be improved. The views as my fellow colleague said shows from the better side of the thing that looks like a nice little lake. If you look at the back of the thing like you do at ‘Howton Farm’ they are hideous. And the screening I am sorry I heard it here earlier today, the screening is just to hide the carbuncle it is to disguise what is a adverse visual impact.

We do fully support the local objectors as a parish council. 5MW over 42 acres. A normal 5MW site is 25 acres. I am saying therefore that this is an unsuitable site right next to that is an 15 acre field that farmer has already been approached so if this goes ahead he will plug right into that. There’s a pylon as our planning officer said, a pylon that runs through the site. This is why everybody is trying to plumb into these sites. There is another 16 coming up locally. I had someone told me yesterday that Wilton Farm is on the application, the agricultural classification, the run off the flooding the flooding comes from the field to the right and it runs down to the field on the left the field to the east is good quality land. We have approved one solar farm so it’s not nimbyism at all. Basically the land owner lives in . He’s not local so maybe he’s a ‘nimby’ he doesn’t want it in his back yard