Solar farm set for approval despite abbey concerns

A solar farm is set for approval despite concerns about a Grade II listed abbey and a potential new sewage works nearby.

The proposal for the farm and battery energy storage at Low Fen Drove Way in Horningsea would cover about 74 hectares (183 acres) of agricultural land and could power more than 13,000 homes.

A report to South Cambridgeshire District Council's planning committee said it would be for "a temporary 40-year operational period, after which the site would be restored to agricultural use".

Councillors are recommended to approve the plans next week, with officers stating "there is a demonstrable unmet need for renewable energy".

The report said the conservation officer objected as it "would adversely affect the setting and significance" of Biggin Abbey, a listed building and former residence of the Bishops of Ely, as well as having concerns about the impact on two conservation areas.

But officers said: "When weighed against the public benefits of the proposal, officers consider that the public benefits will outweigh the harm identified."

The proposal is next to a site earmarked for a new sewage treatment works, replacing the one in Cambridge, but government funding for the relocation and associated development of thousands of homes has been withdrawn.

In December, the chair of the Cambridge Growth Company said he believed the planned development in Cambridge was "not dead".

The report said: "It is acknowledged that there is no certainty on whether it will come forward by virtue of the current funding issues experienced by Anglian Water."

But officers said they did "not consider that the [solar farm] proposal when combined with the adjacent wastewater treatment site would fundamentally undermine Cambridge green belt purposes when put into the context of the whole district".

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