Coventry City Council’s ambition to tackle climate change and create a sustainable zero carbon city has taken a step forward as a planning application for a solar farm has been submitted.
The proposed solar farm on land in the north of the city close to the M6 would deliver clean, green energy and bring benefits for the local community.
The approximately 103-acre site near Lentons Lane is in the Council’s ownership and the land is currently used for sheep farming with some crop cultivation. As part of the plans, options to continue farming are being looked at – as solar farms around the world successfully combine green energy production with other uses including farming and an increase in biodiversity.
The planning application requests permission to develop the site as a solar farm – with photovoltaic panels angled in a southerly direction capturing the maximum energy produced by the sun and creating an output of circa 30 MW of green electricity on a summer’s day. Over a year this would be equal to:
- the power needed for the equivalent of 7,650 homes over a year
- an annual carbon saving of 7,080 tonnes of CO2 compared to traditional power generation
Councillor Jim O’Boyle, Cabinet Member for Jobs, Regeneration and Climate Change, said,
“Climate change presents an enormous challenge that we all have a responsibility to rise to, and Coventry City Council is taking action to tackle climate change through our new draft strategy.
“The proposed solar farm is part of a wide range of initiatives helping deliver our and the city’s climate change ambition. The power it generates will be sustainable, clean, green energy - sensitive to the natural environment. This idea goes hand in hand with our other green projects including plans for Coventry Very Light Rail, improved cycling infrastructure, and our drive to install more on-street charge points. We will be the UK's first all electric bus city too, of course.
“There will be local biodiversity gains which include doubling the amount of hedgerow, improving the existing grassland and increasing the amount of existing wildlife habitat by 40%. Additional trees and hedges will be planted to provide screening.
“If the application is approved, we also want to provide benefits for people living close by. We will be working closely with the tenant farmer and with local people to ensure they are involved every step of the way and to ensure they get some of the green benefits too.”
People living close to the proposed site were previously invited to comment on the proposals at a drop-in session earlier this year and their feedback was taken into account in the submitted application. They have again been contacted to formally have their say through the planning website now that the application is live.