Council faces £100k appeal after successful fight against solar farm

Amber Valley Council used in the region of £100,000 to defend the appeal brought by Kronos Solar over plans for a 185-acre solar farm between Alfreton and Oakerthorpe.

Councillors rejected the solar farm plans last December and now the scheme has been dismissed at an appeal.

The authority applied to Paul Jackson, the Government planning inspector overseeing the appeal and adjoining public inquiry, for Kronos to pay the sum, but this was rejected.

Mr Jackson felt the appeal brought by Kronos was not “unreasonable” and therefore the firm should not be made to pay for the costs of the council’s defence.

He intimated the site was near to the relevant electrical infrastructure needed to link such a scheme to the National Grid, whereas if it had not been, the project and associated appeal may well have been seen as unreasonable.

If the council had not defended the appeal, it is much more likely the plans would have been approved, with the defence then largely relying on council documents and objection letters.

The authority continues to sit in a precarious financial position, having recovered from a projected multi-million-pound deficit, and continues to be in need of making savings and increasing revenue.

This month it was revealed one such way former leaders of the authority had sought to make the council money was to buy the now rejected solar farm for £35 million.

A spokesman for the Save Alfreton Countryside campaign group said: “We’re over the moon with the Government’s decision to reject the solar farm, which would have had a devastating effect on the countryside and our enjoyment of it.

“It’s a real shame that, as a result of the appeal by Kronos, the council was forced to spend much-needed money when local authority budgets are already so tightly squeezed.

“We would much rather have seen Kronos footing the bill, but it is also comforting to see our council supporting the wishes of its electorate in this way and we are pleased the voices of hundreds of residents were heard.”

Coun Tony Harper, council deputy leader and cabinet member for regeneration said: “The residents of Alfreton and surrounding areas are going to be delighted at the Planning Inspectorate’s decision to reject this appeal.

“It demonstrates the council is prepared to stand up for our community.

“We have to be sure we have strong reasons for refusing any planning application, but this result has clearly vindicated our decision.

“We understand the need for renewable energy and are certainly not opposed to that. We are open to green energy applications, but this one simply impacted the area too much, so the harm clearly outweighed the good.

“The council was forced to spend tens of thousands of pounds to defend its original decision through the appeals process.

“This is money that could potentially have been spent on other services, but we were placed in a position where we had no choice. The principle of defending that on behalf of our residents was too important.”

Kronos declined to comment on the decision.