Controversial plans to create a solar farm in Eastbourne Park have been approved by town planners.
On Tuesday (August 20), Eastbourne Borough Council’s planning committee approved proposals to create a photovoltaic solar farm, together with battery energy storage and associated infrastructure, on land to the south of Cross Levels Way.
The scheme had attracted a significant amount of opposition, with at least 114 letters of objection raising concerns around the archeological, ecological and visual importance of the site.
Objectors included several organisations, including: the Eastbourne Biodiversity Group; the Sussex Ornithological Society; and The Eastbourne Society, a group involved in heritage conservation within the town.
Before making their decision, the committee heard how the approval would include planning conditions aimed to address some of these concerns. These conditions included a requirement for the applicant to join a licensing scheme due to the likely presence of Great Crested Newts on the site and further consultation with a number of public bodies.
The further consultation would include discussions with the county archeologist, with officers noting the site was likely to include “prehistoric timber”. A report considered by the committee noted how this would be an ongoing process, which could result in “significant costs” should further work be required on site.
There was some discussion of deferring the scheme until this further consultation was complete, but the committee ultimately considered the scheme to be acceptable as long as the conditions were in place.
The site itself is formed of two fields (classed as “moderate quality” agricultural land), which sit either side of the railway line between Hampden Park and Eastbourne.
The land has been allocated within Eastbourne’s local plan as a suitable location for renewable energy infrastructure, but is also a designated local wildlife site, within an archaeological notification area and a functional flood plain.
For further information on the scheme see application reference 230800 on the Eastbourne Borough Council website.
