Thorpe Farm Greta Bridge Barnard Castle.Pdf
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Planning Services COMMITTEE REPORT APPLICATION DETAILS APPLICATION NO: DM/15/01992/FPA Installation of ground mounted PV panels FULL APPLICATION DESCRIPTION: Mr P Barkes NAME OF APPLICANT: Land at Thorpe Farm Centre, Thorpe Farm, Greta ADDRESS: Bridge, Barnard Castle Barnard Castle East ELECTORAL DIVISION: Peter Herbert, Senior Planning Officer CASE OFFICER: 03000 261391, [email protected] DESCRIPTION OF THE SITE AND PROPOSALS Site 1. The application site comprises 0.77 ha of pasture/grazing land to the east of Thorpe Farm, approximately 2.7 km to the north east of Greta Bridge village. To the north lies a pond and further pasture land with the C168 Thorpe Grange – Thorpe village road beyond. To the south lies further pasture land, with a farm access road, pond and the A66 Trans- Pennine trunk road beyond. To the east is open countryside, while to the west is the Thorpe Grange farm house and associated farm buildings, separated from the application site by a strip of further pasture land and the C168. 2. Thorpe Farm is an operational agricultural holding. In addition, a caravan and camping site, farm centre, bistro and coffee shop operate from the location. 3. The closest non-related residential properties are Thorpe Grange Cottages approximately 0.16 km to the south, Green Brough approximately 1.1 km to the south west, Saunders House approximately 1.3 km to the south west, and Southorpe Farm approximately 0.9 km to the north east. 4. The site does not lie within any locally or nationally designated landscape, being approximately 1 km outside an Area of High Landscape Value (AHLV) and 6.5 km outside the North Pennine Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) to the west. Designated within the County Durham Landscape Strategy as Vale Farmland, the site’s visibility is limited from the A66 to the south by tree planting on, and adjacent to, the road embankment. As agricultural land the site is classified as subgrade 3b (moderate quality capable of producing moderate yields of a narrow range of crops or high yields of grass which can be grazed or harvested over most of the year). 5. There are a number of listed buildings in the vicinity of the application site, while Greta Bridge Conservation Area, Roman fort, vicus and section of Roman road (scheduled) are approximately 3 km to the south west. 6. The site is relatively unconstrained, with open views into it from the near distance. These are primarily from the C168 which is set at a higher level approximately 30 m to the west, and at a similar level some 370 m to the north. Footpath No. 43 (Wycliffe with Thorpe) lies some 55m to the south. There are ponds to the north and south of the application site. The Proposal 7. The proposal is for the establishment of a solar panel installation for 25 years with electricity generating capacity of up to 249.6 KW per annum and comprising 960 photo voltaic (PV) panels. These would be orientated to face south and tilted on a rail system at 30 degrees to the horizontal. The direct current would be converted to the necessary alternating current by inverters located beneath the panels, but space would still remain for grass to grow under the installation, allowing grazing to continue. 8. The PV panels are intended to power all of the farm businesses, significantly reducing demand from the national grid, with the objective of assisting the farm’s economic viability and sustainability. Any surplus power would be exported to the local electricity grid. 9. The panels would be arranged in eight uniform rows than respond to the shape of the site with widths varying between 300m and 100m that would cover an area of approximately 7,700m2 (0.77ha). They would consist of blue cells of solar glass mounted within aluminium frames and supported by rust resistant steel and magnesium alloy ground supports. The mounting system comprises a single post per panel driven into the ground. Typical projection above ground level would be 2.2 m at each panel’s highest point, with a 0.8m clearance at each panel’s lowest point. The PV panels are designed to absorb light rather than reflect it. 10. No additional enclosure measures are proposed for the protection of the panels. They will be connected by underground cable to an existing substation located within the group of farm buildings to the west in order feed into the National Grid. 11. Vehicular access to the site would be via an existing field access track, which in turn would be accessed from the A66. Installation is anticipated to take approximately 5 weeks. This would involve 3 deliveries of materials by lorries, and up to three contractor vehicles per day, 6 vehicle movements in total. 12. The application is referred to County Planning Committee as it involves renewable energy development of 1,000sqm or more. PLANNING HISTORY 13. There is no planning history specific to the application site. However, the wider farm has extensive planning history, including the provision of a farm shop and tea room, bird of prey centre and use of the land for the siting of touring caravans and camping pods. 14. An application for a change of use of former pig sheds and reclamation centre to animal rescue centre, and the retention of a static caravan, are currently under consideration. PLANNING POLICY NATIONAL POLICY 15. The Government has consolidated all planning policy statements, guidance notes and many circulars into a single policy statement, the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), although the majority of supporting Annexes to the planning policy statements are retained. The overriding message is that new development that is sustainable should go ahead without delay. It defines the role of planning in achieving sustainable development under three topic headings – economic, social and environmental, each mutually dependant. 16. The presumption in favour of sustainable development set out in the NPPF requires local planning authorities to approach development management decisions positively, utilising twelve ‘core planning principles’. The following elements of the NPPF are considered relevant to this proposal. 17. NPPF Part 1 – Building a Strong, Competitive Economy. The Government is committed to securing economic growth in order to create jobs and prosperity and to ensuring that the planning system does everything it can to support sustainable economic growth. Planning should operate to encourage and not act as an impediment to sustainable growth. Therefore significant weight should be placed on the need to support economic growth through the planning system. Decisions should support existing business sectors, taking account of whether they are expanding or contracting. 18. NPPF Part 3 – Supporting a Rural Economy – Requires planning policies to support economic growth in rural areas in order to create jobs and prosperity by taking a positive approach to sustainable new development, supporting all types of business and enterprise, promoting development and diversification of agricultural and rural business and supporting tourism and leisure activities that benefit rural businesses, communities and visitors whilst respecting the character of the countryside. 19. NPPF Part 7 – Requiring Good Design. The Government attaches great importance to the design of the built environment, with good design a key aspect of sustainable development, indivisible from good planning. Planning policies and decisions must aim to ensure developments; function well and add to the overall quality of an area over the lifetime of the development, establish a strong sense of place, create and sustain an appropriate mix of uses, respond to local character and history, create safe and accessible environments and be visually attractive. 20. NPPF Part 10 - Meeting the Challenge of Climate Change, Flooding and Coastal Change. Planning plays a key role in helping shape places to secure radical reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, minimising vulnerability and providing resilience to the impacts of climate change, and supporting the delivery of renewable and low carbon energy. 21. NPPF Part 11 – Conserving and Enhancing the Natural Environment. The planning system should contribute to, and enhance the natural environment by; protecting and enhancing valued landscapes, recognizing the benefits of ecosystem services, minimising impacts on biodiversity and providing net gains in biodiversity where possible, preventing new and existing development being put at risk from unacceptable levels of soil, air, water or noise pollution or land instability, and remediating contaminated and unstable land. 22. NPPF Part 12 – Conserving and Enhancing the Historic Environment. Working from Local Plans that set out a positive strategy for the conservation and enjoyment of the historic environment, Local Planning Authorities should require applicants to describe the significance of the heritage asset affected to allow an understanding of the impact of a proposal on its significance. In determining applications LPAs should take account of; the desirability of sustaining and enhancing the significance of the asset and putting them to viable uses consistent with their conservation, the positive contribution conservation of heritage assets can make to sustainable communities and economic viability, and the desirability of new development making a positive contribution to local character. Opportunities for new development within Conservation Areas that enhance or better reveal their significance should be treated favourably, acknowledging that not all elements of a Conservation Area contribute to its significance. 23. In accordance with paragraph 215 of the National Planning Policy Framework, the weight to be attached to relevant saved local plan policy will depend upon the degree of consistency with the NPPF. The greater the consistency, the greater the weight. The relevance of this issue is discussed, where appropriate, in the assessment section of the report below. http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/planningandbuilding/pdf/2116950.pdf (NPPF) 24.