Burnley Council says proposed giant new solar farm will not need special environmental assessment carried out

The 116-acre development on the hills above Burnley would overlook Cockden Beck and the village of Worsthorne and generate enough renewable energy to power around 15,000 homes.

In May development consultancy Pegasus Group wrote to Burnley Council revealing it had a client considering installing the array of panels on farmland off Todmorden Road in Cockden.

It asked whether the scheme would require an environmental impact assessment before submitting a full planning application.

Now borough planning officials have ruled it does not need one, a decision local Briercliffe Liberal Democrat Coun. Gordon Lishman has described as a mistake.

The decision was made despite Natural England telling them: “On the basis of the material supplied with the consultation, that there are potential likely significant effects on statutorily designated nature conservation sites or landscapes and further assessment is required.

“The proposal, covering an area of more than 65 football pitches, would see the installation of photovoltaic arrays, a transformer, battery energy storage system, power equipment and switchgear, and a substation to connect the the solar farm to the National Grid.”

Briercliffe Parish Council has said it intends to hold a public meeting if any formal planning application is submitted.

Coun. Lishman said: “This decision is a surprise. I think it is a mistake.

“I think there are environmental issues that need to be looked – local residents certainly think so.

“If there is a formal application I would seek to ensure that they are fully considered in the planning process and ask that the scheme be discussed by Burnley Council’s Development Control Committee”

One resident who described the possible solar farm last month as ‘a huge, ugly blot on Burnley visible for miles around’ has expressed his concern over the decision.

He said: “A ‘decision’ just appeared on the planning portal without any documents to support the it.

“It would be interesting to find out how this decision was made and if any of the objections or concerns put forward were actually listened to or not.

“Personally I find the secretive manner that all of this has been handled extremely suspicious.”