By Rebecca Maer
Solar panels will be installed across an agricultural flood plain either side of the railway track into Eastbourne after councillors approved the scheme.
They voted narrowly in favour – with three for, two against and one absention – after the scheme was discussed at last night’s Eastbourne Borough Council planning meeting.
The plan, which could bring 50,000 panels to the flat levels south of Cross Levels Way, was recommended for approval by officers.
The panels will be four metres high to allow animal grazing below them and for the sun to reach the vegetation below.
Who is behind the scheme?
The company behind SunCoast Solar Farm, privately-owned Low Carbon Ltd, is in partnership with the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company, based in Boston, United States, to fund this and similar projects.
Low Carbon said at a presentation last year here that the project would produce enough energy to power 6,400 of the 49,355 homes in Eastbourne, about 13%. The company also says that it would save 4,300 tonnes of CO2 emissions a year.
However, the energy produced by the panels will feed to the National Grid and will not be used directly to power homes or businesses in Eastbourne.
Praise for developer
Coun Jim Murray, Cabinet member for Climate Change, addressed the meeting as a public speaker, saying that SunCoast had been “exemplary” in talking to residents and engaging with local eco groups.
“It’s a great scheme. We are aiming to be carbon neutral by 2030 and this will bring us closer – there is no room for nimbyism (Not In My Back Yard),” he said.
Questions over effect on land
However, retired engineer John Compton, 83, who worked on the construction of the Channel Tunnel, voiced concerns as a public speaker about the effect of the installation and said hydrological testing was needed.
“The weight of these panels will be quite significant and the stakes going into the ground will not be sufficient to support them. They will put pads around the stakes which will compress the ground and the water level will rise up,” he said.
Members acknowledged it was an important investment and a pioneering project to bring renewable energy to Eastbourne.
But they expressed reservations about the fact that there are likely to be archaeological remains on the site, the potential damage to the land by inserting the panels’ supporting structure and the likely presence of Great Crested Newts.
The scheme had attracted 159 objections relating to these issues and the visual effect of the panels.
Organisations which objected included heritage group the Eastbourne Society, the Eastbourne Biodiversity Group and the Sussex Ornithological Society.
The approval is conditional on archaeological and biodiversity issues being resolved.
:: Main image: Eastbourne Borough Council website
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The fact that anyone opposed this is astonishing! Let’s have more solar, and a floating wind farm off the coast of Eastbourne too.