A solar farm generating enough energy to supply power for 15,000 homes is recommended for approval.

The farm, if approved by South Kesteven District Council, would feature ground mounted solar PV panels with a generating capacity of up to 49.9MW on a 85ha farmland site at Foston.

The application also includes related mounting system, battery storage units, inverters, underground cabling, stock proof fence, CCTV, internal tracks and associated infrastructure, landscaping and environmental enhancements for a temporary period of 40 years and a permanent grid connection hub."

The location for the solar farm is on land south of the A1 Foston by-pass and it is a different scheme to one that went out to public consultation last Autumn, as previously reported by Nub News.

The applicant, By-Pass Farm Solar Ltd would also build a substation and grid connection infrastructure 2.1km to the north of the site, should they gain planning approval.

The application, which comes before the planning committee of SKDC on Wednesday February 17, says the panels would be 2.8m high, with a gap of approximately 0.8M underneath to allow animals to graze alongside and underneath.

A report prepared for the meeting by planning staff says Foston Parish Council has no onjections to the farm, but it requests better screening from the site and the A1 and Foston residents. They also want further community consultation.

Long Bennington Parish Council has no objection either, but requests restrictions from its traffic travelling through the village.

Consultation by South Kesteven District Council delivered nine letters in support and six against.

Supporters backed renewable energy, they said the site was well away from the village and it was a good use of poor quality farmland.

Objectors feared visual impact on the countryside and views, lighting at night, extra noise and traffic during construction and impact on property values. They also claimed a lack of consultation and it might prevent improvements to the A1.

The report looked at the issues and recommended approval subject to conditions.

It concluded: "The proposed development would make a significant contribution to the government target of reducing carbon emissions to net zero by 2050. The expected site energy generation would provide the energy equivalent of the demand from 15,000 houses, equating to an annual reduction in carbon emissions of 21,000 tonnes of carbon.

"Although there would inevitably be some detrimental impacts, particularly visual, associated with a development of this scale, it is considered that these can be suitably mitigated through an appropriate landscaping scheme. Further, any minor conflicts that have been identified with the development plan policies are significantly outweighed by the benefits of the proposal."