A proposal to build the solar farm by the applicant, Lightsource BP, to the north of Burnhope, near Lanchester, was approved by Durham County Council’s planning committee in March despite hundreds of objections from locals.
Campaigners against a solar farm on their doorstep have criticised a council’s lack of notice ahead of a key planning inquiry.
The Government’s Planning Inspectorate has adjourned a three-week inquiry into plans for a 227-acre solar farm at Burnhope, County Durham.
They claim Durham County Council failed to inform the public within the required timeframe. The authority apologised for the error and said the inquiry will be rescheduled for next year.
The hearing will consider a planning committee’s decision to refuse plans for the solar farm in March earlier this year amid significant opposition from residents and a previous High Court appeal.
Councillors voted against the plans due to the size and scale of the proposed solar farm and the loss of landscape. The authority previously approved the solar farm in March 2023, but after a judicial review and legal challenge by Burnhope residents, the permission was quashed by the planning court in February 2024, ruling the scheme “unlawful”.
Lightsource bp resubmitted its application for the 227-acre site last year and said it had improved landscaping to minimise visual impacts. Up to 14 fields near the County Durham village could be overlaid with panels, including areas near the Chapman’s Well nature reserve.
Despite significant public interest in the inquiry, campaigners claimed people living in Burnhope, Lanchester, Maiden Law, Quaking Houses, and South Moor did not know when it was being held.
Ian Galloway, of the Keep it Green group, said: “This creates a very significant risk that the interests of people have been prejudiced.
“The other problem that this failure creates is one of trust and legitimacy. Lack of notification compromises natural justice, undermines public confidence in the process, and risks the Inquiry’s legitimacy.
“The people who do know about the public inquiry have been left with the question: How can the public inquiry be a fair and just process of law if the public has been failed to be informed?”
Residents have raised thousands of pounds to mount a legal challenge against the proposal and fund its continued opposition.
Mr Galloway added: “This is a community who have been overlooked and ignored by those in authority. The community has a collective memory of how people with power made decisions that affected the community greatly, but over which they had no agency.”
Lightsource bp said the solar farm would have “a significant positive impact on the surrounding area, both environmentally and economically”.
Stephen Reed, Durham County Council’s planning manager, said: “Due to an error, residents were not given enough notice of the public inquiry starting. We are sorry for any inconvenience this has caused. A new date will be set by the Planning Inspectorate for next year, and we will make sure notices are published in accordance with relevant timescales.”
