I am delighted to be able to say the North Yorkshire Planning Committee have overwhelmingly refused permission for solar and battery storage at Eden Farm with 10 votes against 4.
There 4 planning reasons for rejection are:
- Impact on the tenant farmer
- Lack of evidence put forward as to other more suitable sites
- Loss of best and most versatile farmland
- Heritage impact
Our campaign has fought long and hard for this day and it has paid off. The committee were strong on their points, the majority fully understood they must consider the impact on the personal circumstances of the tenant farmer and that the impact on us is exceptional. There was also a real appreciation of our good land management and the importance of retaining good agricultural land.
We would like to thank the 10 councillors who voted against this solar application. Listed below
Councillor Andy Brown
Councillor Andy Paraskos (Chair)
Councillor Sam Cross
Councillor Andrew Lee
Councillor John McCartney
Councillor Bob Packham (Vice Chair)
Councillor Yvonne Peacock
Councillor Roberta Swiers
Councillor Malcolm Taylor
Councillor Robert Windass (substitute for Richard Foster)
Those who voted in favour of the solar and battery storage development. Listed below:
Councillor Joy Andrews (substitute for Steve Mason)
Councillor Neil Swannick
Councillor Tom Jones
Councillor Hannah Gostlow
THANK YOU
Thank you to everyone for your relentless support and thanks to Councillor Lindsay Burr for her support today. We shall wait to see if Harmony Energy will appeal this decision but for now we will take this result and enjoy it!