The site will be well hidden in the local landscape. View taken from a rural lane SW of the site, E of Hillside looking NE. For other viewpoints please see the full planning documents online
Location in the South Devon AONB
A key consideration for selecting the Creacombe site was the need for the solar farm to be within the community it will serve. Yealm Community Energy identified only two feasible sites for developing renewable energy in the area, of which Creacombe is one.
The significant long-term economic, social and environmental benefits of the proposal demonstrate the exceptional circumstances and public benefit required to approve development in the AONB.
Planning permission was granted in 2016 for a similar project in the South Devon AONB at Newton Downs (a 5MW solar farm).
The South Devon AONB Management Plan 2014 -19 recognises that AONBs are and will continue to be landscapes of change. The landscape and visual assessment confirms that the proposal will have limited and very localised effects on the character of the site but that there would be no harm to the underlying character. Effects on the qualities of the AONB are very limited with minimal adverse effects and some positive effects.
Gnaton Farms fully supports the aims of the South Devon AONB, and the biodiversity and social improvements proposed are consistent with a wide variety of policies in the AONB Management Plan. The project will contribute towards improvement of ecological networks within the agricultural landscape of the AONB which are identified as a distinctive characteristic.
South Hams draft Local Plan
The project is consistent with the draft Local Plan, specifically policy DEV 36 on Community Energy, which states:
Community-led energy efficiency and energy generation projects will be supported where:
The impacts arising from the proposal are acceptable or can be made acceptable.
They are community led and there is evidence of community consensus in support of the proposal and/or the proposals are brought forward as part of neighbourhood planning processes.
The proposals deliver local social and community benefits.
There are administrative and financial structures in place to deliver/manage the project and the income stream from it.