Major Renewable Energy Park Application To Come Under Isle Of Wight Council Spotlight
- Rufus Pickles
- 6 minutes ago
- 2 min read
A major planning application for a renewable energy park south of a large Isle of Wight village will come under County Hall’s spotlight tomorrow evening.
The planning committee will decide whether to approve Sunny Oaks Renewable Energy Park Ltd’s revised proposal for a solar power station, northwest of Whiterails Road and south west of Wootton Bridge.
Committee members originally reviewed the application in September 2023 due to it being of ‘genuine Island-wide significance’ and it raising ‘marginal and difficult policy issues’, according to an officer report.
A subsequent legal challenge against the previously approved plans led to the quashing of planning permission on the grounds that councillors were not given information relating to fire risk.
Planners say the application must now be reconsidered with this information ‘in front of the committee’.
An applicant letter sent to the council in March said the power station would provide roughly 18.5 Megawatts – equivalent to 5,677 homes being supplied with energy.
Sunny Oaks’s agent, rural property specialists BCM previously said:
“The clear narrative to move toward a low carbon economy and to mitigate and adapt to climate change must be given significant material weight.
“To secure renewable energy generation which is only dependant on the sun (and not fossil fuels or other countries) not only moves the UK to a low carbon economy which adapts to climate change, but also caters for positive social and economic benefits for generations to come by safeguarding essential renewable infrastructure which will support businesses, the economy and communities.”
County Hall received 32 letters objecting to the proposal, raising a raft of concerns including negative aesthetic impacts, losing good agricultural land, noise and light pollution, adverse environmental effects and flood risk.
Following an original objection due to a lack of an adequate Flood Risk Assessment, the Environment Agency said in November last year the development would only comply with national planning policy if mitigation measures are carried out to reduce the risk of flooding.
Planners are recommending the application be given conditional permission.