{"id":36563,"date":"2023-05-23T17:30:36","date_gmt":"2023-05-23T16:30:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsblogsnew.ihbc.org.uk\/?p=36563"},"modified":"2023-05-23T17:30:36","modified_gmt":"2023-05-23T16:30:36","slug":"ihbc-features-heritage-from-the-doorstep-council-to-challenge-irrational-solar-farm-decision-in-high-court","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/?p=36563","title":{"rendered":"IHBC features \u2018Heritage from the doorstep\u2019: Council to challenge ‘irrational’ solar farm decision in High Court"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Telford & Wrekin Council will challenge the government\u2019s decision to allow New Works Lane solar farm to go ahead in the High Court.<\/h3>\n

image: for illustration – Raysonho @ Open Grid Scheduler<\/a> \/ Grid Engine, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons\u00a0<\/em><\/h6>\n

<\/p>\n

\u2026 these developments must be made in the right places\u2026<\/span><\/h2>\n

Telford and Wrekin Council writes:<\/p>\n

The council\u2019s planning committee refused planning permission for the 99-acre solar farm between Arleston and Lawley and the government\u2019s local planning inspector agreed with that view, but a minister at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities overruled this in March, giving the solar farm the green light.<\/p>\n

The council believes there are arguable legal grounds to challenge the government\u2019s decision because local planning policy had not been fully understood or lawfully applied.<\/p>\n

Leader of the Council, Shaun Davies (Labour) said: \u201cTelford & Wrekin Council is the local planning authority for the area earmarked for New Works solar farm and will mount a legal challenge on the government\u2019s decision to grant planning permission for it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe complete disregard for local planning policy \u2013 which is a legal framework – and how it works to protect the landscape has led our legal advisers to conclude that the government\u2019s decision making has been \u2018irrational\u2019 at best.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe decision goes against the views of our communities, our planning officers, the planning committee and even the government’s own planning inspector, who held a public inquiry into the development last summer.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a council, we know the vital importance of renewable energy. We are one of only a few councils to have our own solar farm and we have granted a range of others throughout the borough, but these developments must be made in the right places.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe urge the government, even at this late stage, to willingly reverse its decision and avoid the need for further legal action\u201d.<\/p>\n

The council has now lodged an application at the High Court to seek a statutory review of the minister\u2019s decision and a court order to reverse it.<\/p>\n

Read more….<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Telford & Wrekin Council will challenge the government\u2019s decision to allow New Works Lane solar farm to go ahead in the High Court. image: for illustration – Raysonho @ Open Grid Scheduler \/ Grid Engine, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36563","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ihbc-newsblog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36563","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=36563"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36563\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36564,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36563\/revisions\/36564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=36563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=36563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=36563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}