Exton Energy want to build a 67 hectare solar farm on the edge of Exton, and have submitted plans to Rutland County Council
The developers of a planned solar farm at Exton say their scheme would improve the local environment and deliver benefits to the local community, if it’s approved by Rutland County Council. They say ground-mounted solar farms provide much more capacity that roofs, in this case up to nearly 50 megawatts which would power over 14,000 homes. They also plan to plant more native species trees in existing hedgerows , and a wildflower meadow grassland across most of the site including beneath panels, as well as bird and bat boxes, and a wild bird seed strip to attract birds that eat them. Exton Energy also say they’ll make a payment of five hundred pounds to the local community for each megawatt generated per year. They the development is capable of achieving significant net biodiversity gains of nearly 95 per cent in habitat units, nearly 30 per cent in hedgerows and 23 per cent in watercourse units, and that a sustainable drainage strategy that they are proposing would not increase flooding, and are proposing swales that would actually reduce it. Rutland County Council is taking comments on the planning application until the 19th of March. Barnsdale Gardens says if it was built, they would close as they’re certain their visitor numbers would reduce to a level that would make it unviable to continue. They have collected well over 3,000 signatures against the plan and over 200 letters of objection have been lodged so far with Rutland County Council. The deadline to have your say has been extended into March. Owner of Barnsdale Gardens Nick Hamilton says he would close his world famous tourist attraction, which was seen by millions on the TV programme Gardeners World, if planning was passed for the 67 hectare solar farm.
"I'm absolutely 100 percent certain that the impact that solar development in the fields just over our hedge of 168 acres of solar panels will reduce my visitor numbers so significantly that I would have to ultimately close, and that's not just devastating to me, but I've got staff here that have been with me for nearly 40 years, and we are a national institution, we're part of the BBC history, we're an internationally and nationally recognised garden, and an absolute jewel in the crown of Rutland. And the solar panels, as much as alternative energy is needed, and I've said this many times before, it should never have been about alternative energy at any cost."
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