Solar farm plan is thrown out

UNANIMOUS DECISION AGAINST MASSIVE DEVELOPMENT NEAR TO FORT

- By CATHERINE LANGSTON

Craig Mackinlay, MP for South Thanet, with campaigners against the proposed Little South Solar Farm near Ash

(COURTESY OF SAVE ASH LEVEL / SWNS)

PLANS for a massive solar farm situated on the landscape of the world-famous Richborough Roman Fort have been unanimously thrown out by Dover District Council, ending the battle between renewable energy goals and historic preservation.

The controversial Little South Solar Farm, proposed by Norwegian state-owned company Statkraft, would have covered hundreds of acres of farmland directly adjacent to the Roman amphitheatre, beginning just 160 metres from the site.

Despite a planning officer's recommendation to approve the scheme, councillors voted 10-0 against the proposal at a meeting on Thursday, November 27. The committee concluded the development would cause “severe” harm to the setting of Grade I listed heritage assets - a site managed by English Heritage that marks the historic gateway to Roman Britain.

The decision has drawn a division between those seeking to protect Britain's ancient history and those desperate to modernise the region’s farming and energy infrastructure.

The rejection follows four years of anxiety for local campaigners, who argued the scheme was simply in the “wrong place.”

Objections came from Ash, Sandwich, Preston and Staple parish councils, alongside national bodies like the CPRE and Kent Wildlife Trust. In total, 651 representations were made against the plan.