Coupar Angus residents have been urged to have their say on a planning application for a controversial solar farm on the outskirts of the town.
Proposals for the formation of a 49.9MW solar farm comprising ground mounted solar arrays, inverters, transformers, a substation, security fencing, CCTV cameras, cabling, access tracks and associated works at land 130 metres south-east of Coupar Angus Substation, off Pleasance Road, were submitted to Perth and Kinross Council on behalf of Coupar Two Ltd.
The application has been submitted to the local authority after two heated online meetings were held earlier this year by consultants working for Coupar Two Ltd at which it emerged that the proposed solar farm would be sited on agricultural land and cover an area bigger than the whole of town.
An action group, Save Our Rural Environment (SORE), has been set up by local residents to try to raise awareness of the proposals, which it claims many people in the town are currently unaware of.
A spokesperson for SORE told the PA: “This development is going to be 14 times the size of Larghan Park, and cover an area of 161 full-size football pitches.
“There are so many people in this rural community not aware of this and how it will affect our area.,
“We feel that people haven’t really got a voice – there is no community council in the town and the development trust has collapsed – so we have produced a leaflet that will be given to people in the community to tell them how to object to the planning application should they wish to.
“SORE was set up earlier this year when the solar farm was proposed and we are trying to find out as much information as possible and then pass that on to others.
“A lot of people were excluded from the online public meetings earlier this year as they do not use Zoom and we are trying to reach as many people as possible.
“We are passionate about the environment and are not anti-solar so long as it is the right place – this is a south-facing development on a north-facing hill.
“We feel that we have not had an opportunity to have a public debate about this.
“Folk need the facts first and foremost to make a valid decision and there needs to be a time of discussion within the community as well.
“This is such a big development and there are other ways of getting energy.
“We have a food crisis coming up and the land which could be used for growing food is being covered by something that’s going to be tied to it for the next 40 years.
“And how sustainable is this solar farm going to be? Where are the panels coming from? Not the UK. What about the carbon footprint of the delivery? What about the decommissioning process? And unseen health issues?
“Is this green energy actually that green?
“Things are being pushed through as ‘green’ but, when you scratch the surface, they’re not actually that green.
“And there’s no community benefit to this at all.”
The group representative continued: “There is so much to talk about but people are not being given the opportunity to discuss this properly at all, and a lot of people are being bamboozled by the bureaucracy involved in having their say, which is why we have produced this leaflet to help people.
“The plans online are not easy to navigate and include pages and pages of technical information and yet no clear picture or visual of what the fields will actually look like to help people make an informed decision.”
One of the concerns that SORE believes should be highlighted to planners includes what the group describes as the poorly chosen location of the solar farm on existing agricultural land, resulting in the loss of 284 acres of Grade 2 prime agricultural land, currently used for food production.
The group has also highlighted what they say are inadequate plans for landscaping on the site that they claim will not hide the development – which it describes as “visually brutal and industrial and will create a barren, static and uniform appearance”.
Members are also concerned about the impact on the designated pedestrian and cycle-friendly country roads around Coupar Angus due to the increase in traffic associated with the development, particularly during its construction, and the negative impact of the glare from the fields of panels.
SORE also says that the proposed installation of three-metre high solar panels, security fences, and security lighting amount to the industrialisation of the rural landscape, that the public right to roam over the fields will be lost and that there will be a negative impact on local wildlife and biodiversity.
And they refer to proposals for another solar farm at Keithick, close to the Markethill proposals, claiming that there will be a “massive cumulative negative visual impact”.
SORE also says that the development will have no economic, employment, or charitable benefit to the communities of Coupar Angus, Kettins and Campmuir.
Colin Stewart, independent councillor for Strathmore, said: “While I support moving towards more renewable energy sources, the scale of this development is completely inappropriate for the local area. It will be a blight on our local landscape and remove vast swathes of vital farming land. I urge all local residents to make their views known on this application.”
Representatives for Coupar Two have previously refused calls for in-person meetings about the proposals.
Comments can be made online via the council’s planning portal. Responses should be submitted before Friday, September 2.
