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A supermarket on the edge of an Isle of Wight seaside town is to have 272 rooftop solar panels installed.
Aldi’s prior approval application for the installation of solar panels at its approximately 1.62-acre Airfield Way store in Cowes has been approved by County Hall.
The retail giant said its plans are part of a ‘wider program’ of solar panel installations across Aldi’s estate in the UK and Ireland.
The program aims to ‘significantly reduce’ Aldi’s ‘carbon footprint’ and ‘contribute towards mitigating climate change’, according to a cover letter written by the company’s agent, Avison Young.
The letter said:
“The roof-mounted solar panels are proposed to be positioned in a number of locations on the roof of the building.
"Due to the height of the building, the proposed solar panels will be limited in visual sightlines from public viewpoints and are therefore considered to form acceptable additions in such locations from a visual amenity perspective.
“The panels would not be adjacent to any residential dwellings. As such, it is considered that there would not be any loss of residential amenity as a result of any glare from the panels for neighbours.”
The panels will have a maximum output of 144KW.
A council report justifying the decision said:
“The design of the solar panels would be acceptable, with the use of relatively low-lying panels despite sitting on a flat roof which would not appear overly bulky. Additionally, the building is an adequate distance from residential properties.
“Therefore, it is considered that the proposed solar panels would be unlikely to have a detrimental impact on neighbouring properties by way of visual impact or glare and as such, the proposal is unlikely to cause an unacceptable level of glare to residents or to users of the surrounding road network.
“In addition, a glint and glare report has been submitted demonstrating that the proposed solar array would not impact on low flying aircraft such as helicopters in and outbound from the nearby hospital.”