NEWS:"Revised Solar Application Refused Planning permission"

On 8th October 2024, the North Yorkshire Strategic Planning Committee REFUSED Econergy/Lightrock’s revised application to install a large solar farm, battery storage plant, electricity sub-station and associated infrastructure on Woolpots farmland on the south-west side of the village. The reasons given for refusal in summary were:

The proposed temporary loss of the optimal use of 35ha of BMV agricultural land which had not been shown to be necessary;
Adverse impacts on the Howardian Hills National Landscape and local landscape.

Mention was also made in the meeting of the cumulative impact of this scheme given two existing solar farms adjacent to the site and the lack of information on certain aspects of the scheme.
In refusing this very significant application, the Committee followed the recommendation of the Planning Officers and of the North Yorkshire Principal Landscape Architect. Their reports and the full decision are available on the NY Planning Portal.
This followed a partial hearing of the revised application in August 2024 and the refusal by Hambleton District Council Planning Committee of the original application in January 2023. Once again, the Applicants have 6 months from the issuing of the decision notice to lodge an appeal (early May 2025) so watch this space!”

Save Our Countryside!

Woolpots Solar Farm is a proposed industrial scale electricity generating plant to be built on a large area of farmland immediately south and south-west of Husthwaite, a historic rural community located in and below the Howardian Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and below Sutton Bank and the White Horse in the North York Moors National Park. Most of the village is in a conservation area established in 1986 and the stunning rural setting of Husthwaite is one of its key attractions to residents and visitors alike.

We are a group of local residents who are objecting to this development. We are not anti-solar and we all support the UK's move to domestic renewable energy sources. It is quite common to dismiss campaigns like ours as 'Nimbyism'. This is not the case here. In particular, we did not object to the two solar farms amounting to 243 acres built close to Husthwaite alongside the A19 trunk road. The locations were a safe distance from the village, on flat ground and capable of being well screened.

The National Planning Guidance for Solar farms states that "The deployment of large-scale solar farms can have a negative impact on the rural environment, particularly in undulating landscapes. However, the visual impact of a well-planned and well-screened solar farm can be properly addressed within the landscape if planned sensitively". Woolpots simply cannot be screened from the village surroundings or from the AONB and National Park, because it is too big and in the wrong place - as can be seen in many of the photographs at the top of the page. The cumulative impact will also be massive: combined with the existing sites, Husthwaite will have over 370 acres of solar farm on its doorstep with another 156 acre project already in pre-planning.

We are being surrounded!

It is also an inappropriate use of prime agricultural land which at a time when food security and sustainability is an increasing concern, we do not believe that this land should be lost for at least 40 years. This is not environmentally friendly when there are better-proven alternatives that are being ignored by developers who are simply looking to exploit unprecedented high energy prices.

We are being surrounded!

It is also an inappropriate use of two prime greenfield sites which are currently supporting both arable and livestock farming - at a time when food security and sustainability is an increasing concern, we do not believe that this land should be lost for 40 years. This is not environmentally friendly when there are better-proven alternatives that are being ignored by developers who are simply looking to exploit unprecedented high energy prices.

Further updates will be provided as these become available.

Kevin Hollinrake. MP for Thirsk & Malton

"I am a strong supporter of renewable energy including solar, however, energy security must not come at the expense of food security or impact unduly on the natural beauty of the countryside which is fundamental to the North Yorkshire tourist economy."

"Our focus should be on rooftops not green fields

Revised Scheme (September 2023):

	50,000 tilting solar panels, each 3m high;
	128 acre site meaning a combined 370 acres of solar panel south of Husthwaite;
	Miles of high security fencing with 72 CCTV cameras on 4m high posts with security lighting;
	70% of the site classified as ‘Best and Most Versatile’ farmland, which is protected under planning rules to keep it available for food production;
	A MASSIVE INDUSTRIAL COMPOUND OVER FOUR ACRES opposite the existing substation alongside the main road to Husthwaite creating an 'industrial tunnel' at the entrance to the village;
	The industrial compound will house a High Voltage Transformer electricity substation with plant up to 6.3m high and an unspecified number of cabins and storage containers plus 74MWh battery storage in 32 battery storage containers plus matching inverters;

Built alongside the main access road to Husthwaite from the A19, the installation will dominate the landscape and effectively industrialise our area. Local businesses such as our lovely pub, campsite and cafe all depend on tourism as does Hambleton generally. Many come to walk, cycle and enjoy excellent hospitality in this area. Visitor numbers - regional, national and international – are likely to be drastically affected by this development.

Location
Large Scale Map
What will it look like?

Husthwaite and Carlton Husthwaite are two Conservation Villages in the foothills of the Howardian Hills. Part of Husthwaite is in the AONB and the north edge of the proposed Woolpots site will be about 700m from the AONB boundary. The villages are in the natural 'bowl' under Sutton Bank and the White Horse in an area which has been defined by North Yorkshire County Council and other bodies as a 'Visually Sensitive Zone' requiring protection. Woolpots should not be allowed to go ahead - if it does, nowhere in North Yorkshire will be safe from industrial development.

If you click on the 'map' tab there is a larger map which illustrates clearly existing, proposed and potential future developments

The short answer is that it will be very difficult to tell. Lightrock has not responded to requests for mock ups or models of the sites as they will look once developed. All we have is difficult to decipher flat plans.

We have drawn on the outlines of the northern site into this photo to show how it will dominate the landscape but this is no substitute for computer generated 3D modelling which we would have thought it would be relatively easy to provide.

It will also include 155 shipping container type buildings housing battery storage and invertersas well as a 4 acre industrial complex at the entrance to the village!

A green future is about balancing competing needs

We strongly believe that the UK should not sacrifice food sustainability, local businesses and our protected landscapes - so important for mental and physical wellbeing of residents and visitors - to solar farm developments unless there are simply no viable alternatives. But that is not the case here. Smaller more discrete brownfield sites are plentiful and it is possible to link into the electricity grid from considerable distances. The Hambleton Plan calls for small scale renewables only in order to protect the rural setting of its villages while the Government is now promoting offshore wind as the country's primary renewable energy source as being far more efficient than large-scale solar installations which, it has been calculated, will likely never get beyond 12 per cent of their true generating capacity in the course of a year due to the cloudy British weather.

Philippa James. Recently District Councillor Raskelf and White Horse

"Whilst I recognise the need for renewable energy, I also believe this needs to be done in a considered way. If this means solar panels then they should be put in the right place, on brown field industrial sites, factories and on the roofs of every new home. Not on arable land that could be used to grow food. Otherwise we are destroying large swathes of our green countryside to go green. Where is the sense in that?"

How You Can Help Us

You can write directly to the Planning Department at North Yorkshire Council quoting reference:ZB23/02015/FUL