Cornwall planning: Proposal for 5,000 solar panels near busy A30 roundabout

Plans to install over 5,000 solar panels on land next to a busy roundabout on the A30 have been submitted with Cornwall Council this week. S2W Property 103 Ltd has applied to build a solar farm, with battery storage, access, landscaping and other infrastructure on 3.75 hectares of land off Loggans Road, Hayle, north of Loggans Moor Roundabout and adjacent to the A30.

The application comes two weeks after a debate calling for Cornwall Council to establish the right balance between use of land for agriculture and solar farms, particularly the rise in controversial industrial-sized solar parks.

A motion by Conservative councillor Alan Jewell, who represents Falmouth Boslowick and is also a farmer, was accepted earlier this month for the council's chief planning officer to commission research to explore the economic role of Grade 3 land to ensure that planning decisions take into account the right balance between use of land for food production and solar farms. It follows a number of contentious planning applications for industrial solar farms in Cornwall.

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A design statement by CSA Architects on behalf of the applicant says this proposed solar farm would comprise 5,080 photovoltaic panels with battery storage, generating 2.5 megawatts (MW) and an estimated annual offset of 1,300 tonnes of CO2 emissions. A private wire connection to the nearby St Ives Bay Beach Resort would ensure that over 1.3 gigawatt hour (GWh) per year would directly benefit the resort while any surplus electricity would be directed to the national grid.

Battery storage is included for excess solar electricity produced, which would ensure the end user can draw down from the batteries when solar production is low or zero. The planning statement says the scheme aligns with the Government's climate emergency development plan, the National Planning Policy Framework 2021 and aids Cornwall Council’s goal of achieving 100 per cent renewable electricity by 2030.

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The site on the approach to Hayle was previously three parcels of land, including areas housing the iconic Grade II listed Loggans Mill and a Lidl supermarket, but is now classed as an independent entity.

The solar panels would stand at 2.65m from their base at ground level, with the battery store shipping container elevated by 0.4m above the ground with a maximum height of 3m. The security fence around the panels is proposed as a 2m high weldmesh fence. The battery store and fence would be designed in a dark green colour to be recessive in landscape views.

The applicant says boundaries would remain untouched in an effort to maintain biodiversity habitats and natural screening to the A30.

For more details see applicaiton PA24/02723 on the council's planning portal.