CCBC response to petition - nothing will be done

RESPONSE TO THE PETITION FROM TIM STEPHENS DEVELOPMENT CONTROL MANAGER AT CCBC I write further to our meeting yesterday morning, and acknowledge the receipt of the petition that you handed to me. The Council has powers to serve temporary stop notices, or full stop notices on the back of an enforcement notice, but they should only be issued where it is expedient that the activity which amounts to the breach of planning legislation is stopped immediately. The first thing to consider in deciding whether it is expedient to serve a notice is whether the development is lawful. In my view, the development of the solar farm is lawful. Planning permission was granted subject to a number of conditions including one that required the agreement of tree protection measures. Those details were submitted and agreed. Someone subsequently cut down many of the trees within the site, and that is under investigation by NRW. The trees were not protected by a Tree Preservation Order, and so the local planning authority cannot take action in that resepct. The developers cannot now comply with the tree protection details that were agreed, but the condition did not go to the heart of the permission, and so the development remains lawful. The planning permission was for a solar farm consisting of around 15,796 solar modules, on-site access tracks, substation, three combined inverter/transformer stations, underground cables, perimeter fencing and CCTV cameras. A condition that went to the heart of the permission would have to, for instance, require some detail of the panels to be agreed prior to the commencement of the development such as their height or location, rather than relate to an associated component of the scheme such as tree protection or landscaping. The planting already approved at the edges of the site will take place this March as has been agreed with the project design company Gildemeister. The local planning authority (LPA) will require that the replacement planting within the site is carried out as far as is possible in the next planting season being Autumn 2017. The developer is a company called Pearmat, and their agents, Pegasus, are currently preparing a replanting scheme to be submitted to the LPA which will include tree planting to replace those felled, and habitat enhancement. The LPA and NRW have discussed the nature and content of the replacement landscaping scheme with the agent, and following site visits with officers of both authorities Pegasus have confirmed the replanting scheme will be submitted to the LPA by the end of next week. The NRW will be consulted about that scheme.