A PLAN for a large solar panel site on the outskirts of St Austell has been rejected despite planning officers thinking it was a good idea.

Cornwall councillors have voted against an application for a solar farm on 25.5 hectares of land at Menear Farm which they heard would have been seen from across St Austell Bay and would have led to the loss of green fields.

They agreed it would have caused significant harm to the character of the landscape.

The panels would have been placed in fields to the north-east of the A391 main road, near the St Austell Household Waste Recycling Centre on Menear Road.

The council’s planning department had pushed for approval of the application because officers felt the public benefits associated with the renewable energy scheme were substantial and outweighed “the level of harm identified to the landscape, a non-designated heritage asset and agricultural land”.

Anesco Ltd, a UK-based energy infrastructure company, applied to build the solar farm, with the aim of it operating for 40 years and generating enough electricity to power 3,880 homes.

Opposing the scheme, Gary Hooper, of Treverbyn Parish Council, said that while his council supported renewable energy, the scale and siting of the Menear Farm development did not “demonstrate adequate mitigation of harm to the landscape or the ecology”.

“There are multiple existing and proposed renewable energy developments in the wider St Austell area, and this development contributes to the increased industrialisation of the rural landscape, which has not been adequately assessed,” he added.

Oliver Kimber, of St Austell Town Council, said his council had considered the application twice. In May 2024 the council reluctantly accepted that the benefits outweighed the negative impacts. However, last month the town council’s planning committee were more aware of the “volatile international situation and the increased need for food production and self-sufficiency”.

He added: “Members had also better assessed the visual impact and were particularly concerned about good south-facing grade 3a and 3b agricultural land and had now reconsidered the matter and would like to see it refused.”

Cllr Matt Luke said: “This is the wrong thing on the wrong site for numerous reasons.”

He said he knew more about the land than anyone as generations of his family had farmed it, and that flooding occurs on a regular basis into the Tregrehan valley and on to the A391.

He said: “The visual impact is far wider than any of you can imagine. This land can be seen from the whole of St Austell Bay. These are the last green fields in the landscape – the rest has been built on. It will be visible in the landscape - to say it won’t is absolute nonsense. We will lose the last green buffer between St Austell and Treverbyn parish.”

He added: “We will gain nothing but a blot on the landscape.”

Tom Clements, for Anesco, said the company had noted concerns about loss of agricultural land and had avoided high quality areas. He said drainage would address flooding concerns.

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