The owner of Barnsdale Gardens in Rutland says he could have to close if solar farm plans are approved
A planning application has been submitted to Rutland County Council for the solar farm to be built next door
The owner of Barnsdale Gardens in Rutland says he feels he would have no choice but to close if a solar farm is allowed to be built on the land next door.
It's as Ecoenergy have submitted a planning application to Rutland County Council for the solar farm to be built.
Local residents and businesses are worried about the impact this could have.
I wont wait for the point where I've lost everything
Owner of Barnsdale gardens, Nick Hamilton, said:
"Rutland is a small county, and the main thing it has going for it is its tourism."
"We are a major supporting pillar in Rutland, and once you start taking away the reason for people to visit Rutland, then they will stop coming."
"People come for the peace and quiet and tranquillity; they want to visit a beautiful garden in a nice environment."
"What they don't need is motors that are driving 125,000 panels."
"I'm 100% certain that if it gets the go-ahead, we will have to shut."
"I wont wait for the point where I've lost everything."
"If it goes ahead, I will just shut, and it would rip me apart to do that, but what's the option? The option is to end up out on the street with nothing."
It would rip me apart to close
Exton Energy is a proposed solar farm that would have a capacity of up to 49.9 megawatts and would be located on 67 hectares of land bordered by Exton Lane and to the west of Barnsdale Avenue, approximately 1.8 km south west of Exton.
Humphrey Jamieson, Head of Planning at Econergy, said:
"The views of the community have helped shape our proposals, and we have made several changes to the original indicative design in response to the feedback we received and additional environmental assessments.”
“Now that we have submitted our application for Exton Energy to Rutland County Council, there will be an opportunity to view all relevant documents on the Council’s website and submit a formal consultation response as part of the application process.”
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