PERTH and Kinross councillors have been recommended not to object to the development of an energy plant the size of over 146 football pitches on prime agricultural land.
The 50MW battery storage system and 60MW solar energy park is the latest renewable energy development proposed for the Coupar Angus area.
Perth and Kinross Council’s (PKC) Planning and Placemaking Committee will meet to consider the application, as a statutory consultee, on Wednesday, August 6.
Sirius EcoDev (Stirling) Ltd has submitted an application to the Scottish Government’s Energy Consents Unit (ECU) to develop an energy plant capable of producing, exporting, importing and storing 110MW of power on 105 hectares of [[Perth]]shire farmland.
Planning applications for energy plant proposals of 50MW or more have to be considered by the ECU, and the local council is asked whether or not it objects to the application as a statutory consultee.
The Perthshire project is 600 metres north-west of Caddam Cottage, Keithick – between Burrelton and Coupar Angus – and has been called Stirling Battery and Solar Energy Park.
In its supporting statement, Herefordshire-based Sirius EcoDev (Stirling) described the development as being of “significant importance in safeguarding the supply to the region and reducing the reliance on carbon heavy alternatives”.
There are four proposed access points to the site: one off the A923 and three off an unnamed road which dissects the southern part of the site.
The latest proposed energy development for the Coupar Angus area is close to the consented Keithick Solar Energy Park and would use 11.5MW of solar area from the consented site, plus 48.5MW of solar land from the west and north.
Stirling Battery and Solar Energy Park would provide enough energy for around 37,520 homes which Sirius EcoDev (Stirling) has said would save 37,173 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) every year and 1,486,910 metric tonnes of CO2 over its 40-year lifespan.
On July 24 Stop Oversized Solar launched a campaign claiming UK “farmland the size of Derbyshire is now under threat of solar power development”. The group has raised concern UK solar sites in the pipeline would cover around 655,000 acres – up to five per cent of crop land.
Last month, Perth and Kinross opposition councillors responded to residents’ concerns about arable land being turned over into an industrial site.
On July 9, PKC’s Planning and Placemaking Committee councillors voted – against officers’ recommendation – to refuse planning permission for a 22MW solar farm on prime agricultural land near Coupar Angus.
At the July 9 meeting, objector Dave Ritchie told councillors: “There’s only eight per cent of Scotland that’s prime agricultural land, so there must be plenty more room on other land to put these solar farms on. We’ve got brownfield sites, rooftops and plenty of unproductive sites.”
Scotland’s National Planning Framework 4 permits development on prime agricultural land for “essential infrastructure” and if “there is a specific locational need and no other suitable site”.
Council officers have recommended Perth and Kinross Council does not object to this latest proposal but have suggested requesting several planning conditions be imposed. Suggested conditions include the provision of passing places, visibility splays, access to a public footpath and protecting the soil.
Councillors will meet to discuss the application on Wednesday, August 6.
