Agenda and minutes

Apologies had been received from Councillors Tennant and Woolf.

To sign as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 5 February 2025 (copy enclosed). 

Consideration was given to the minutes of the meeting held on 5 February 2025.

AGREED:

That the minutes be signed as a correct record.

(Where a Councillor has a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest the Councillor must declare the interest to the meeting and leave the room without participating in any discussion or making a statement on the item, except where a Councillor is permitted to remain as a result of a grant of dispensation.)

There were none.

There were none.

Full application for Erection of a 49.9MW Ground Mounted Solar Array with Associated Underground Cable Route, Substation with POC Mast, Battery Storage and Ancillary Equipment & Structures at Caudwell Farm, Holbeach St Matthews, Spalding (report of the Development Manager (Interim) enclosed).

Consideration was given to the report of the Development Manager (Interim) upon which the above application was to be determined, including their recommendations, copies of which had previously been circulated to all members.

Councillor N Worth attended the meeting to speak as the ward member for this application, covering the following areas:

• The opposition towards this application was about the principle of food security being more important than energy security.
• The land concerned within this application was the best Grade 1 farming land in the country and South Holland was the centre of the UK food valley.
• National planning guidance stated that poorer quality land was preferred for renewable energy projects.
• The application would not increase biodiversity in that location.
• The Local Plan stated that renewable energy infrastructure should not damage the amenity of residents.
• A similar type of application had been recently refused in Holbeach St Marks.

Members debated the matter and fully explored the details of the application in light of prevailing policies and guidance, with the following comments being raised:

• Food security was more important than ever and there were alternative sites available to place solar panels on.
• South Holland had a unique landscape, and members had a duty to protect our district from these types of applications.
• It was important to protect Grade 1 land as once it was damaged it could never be repaired.
• Solar farms should be built on lower quality land.
• Agreement with the officer’s recommendation for refusal.
• The site for this application was not the right location for this type of use and it industrialised the land.
• There were already a number of developments ongoing and in the pipeline for South Holland which added up to a larger proportion of land being used for this purpose across the district.
• There was no community benefit with this type of application.
• The onus was on the applicant to demonstrate that other sites of a lower grade were not available for this purpose, which clearly had not been done.
• The ministerial statements provided within the report supported the refusal of the application.

The full debate was not repeated here as a livestream of this Planning Committee Meeting could be viewed on South Holland District Council’s Facebook page for a limited period of time, in line with the Democratic Services Privacy Notice.

AGREED:

That the application be refused for the reasons outlined at section 9.0 of the report.

(Moved by Councillor Taylor, Seconded by Councillor Redgate)

Oral representations were received in respect of the above application in line with the Council’s scheme of public speaking at Planning Committee meetings:

Supporter: Matthew Bayley – Green Energy International (Agent)

Objector: Bryan Smith (Resident)

To provide an update on recent appeal decisions (report of the Development Manager (Interim) enclosed).

Consideration was given to the report of the Development Manager which provided an update on recent appeal decisions.

AGREED:

That the report be noted.

There were none.

There were none.