04/10/2024
The Parish Council has held a meeting with Solar2 and Recurrent Energy who will be undertaking the construction of the new solar farm between Rufforth and Hessay.
A target date for connection to the National Grid via the sub-station at Poppleton has been set for June 2026, with construction planned to commence 12 to 16 months prior to that date. We have been assured that the connection will be via underground cabling.
Construction traffic will enter the site via Tinker Lane but agreement has been reached that vehicles will not travel through the village of Rufforth and this will be monitored by the Parish Council with Recurrent Energy confirming that immediate action will be taken in the event of any breaches.
The Parish Council raised concerns over safety at the point where the public right of way crosses Tinker Lane. Recurrent Energy confirmed that a safety plan would be put in place prior to construction commencing and which would be agreed in advance with the Parish Council.
Regular liaison meetings will take place throughout the construction process to provide a forum to address any issues and concerns.
Solar2 has agreed to contribute a Community Fund of £500 per megawatt generated per annum (expected output 40mgw). This is to be shared between the two parishes of Rufforth with Knapton and Hessay’ and payment will commence once the solar farm is generating electricity. In the meantime, details for the administration and allocation of this fund will be agreed.
Whilst the Parish Council opposed the original planning application for this solar farm, approval has now been granted and it is now our intention to build a strong working relationship with the developers in order to minimise the effects on residents.
02/09/2024
This week will see some archaeological surveys beginning on the site, and there will be a number of excavators on site digging trial trenches. This will be in progress for around four weeks as they work across the site to assess the presence of any archaeological remains of importance.
This is not the beginning of construction and is a process required by condition and is undertaken in line with the approved Written Scheme of Investigation.
14/03/2024
The Secretary of State has carefully considered the case against call-in policy and has decided not to call in this application, being content that it should be determined by the local planning authority.
The call-in policy, as set out in the Written Ministerial Statement by Nick Boles on 26 October 2012, makes it clear that the power to call in a case will only be used very selectively, and the Government is committed to giving more power to councils and communities to make their own decisions on planning issues and believes planning decisions should be made at the local level wherever possible.
In the meantime, the full conditions of approval have now been published and can be found on the City of York Council planning portal.
27/02/2024
As previously stated planning for this has been approved by City of York Council and referred to the Secretary of State. This is standard practice for sizeable applications in the Green Belt. The Chairman of the Parish council has written to the Secretary of State asking him to “call in ” this application on the grounds that the Council did not rigorously assess alternative sites and the Planning Committee did not visit the site to assess for themselves the potential harm to the Green Belt.
If called in the application will be subject to a public inquiry, although it has to be said it is unusual for the Secretary of State to do so.
We will update as soon as we have further information.
09/02/2024
The planning application for the installation of a solar farm on agricultural land to the south of Low Moor Lane Hessay (Solar 2 – 23/00626/FULM) went to the Planning Committee on Thursday 8th February 2024.
Representatives from Rufforth with Knapton Parish Council attended the meeting, presenting a statement objecting to the proposal on the grounds of inappropriate development on the green belt, and destroying open views over the countryside, in particular the view of Rufforth church from the PROW.
In addition, the issue of the routing of the supply to the grid at Poppleton was raised. The Parish Council also asked for a deferment on the basis that planning for a more suitable site for solar energy from Harewood Whin is imminent.
The Committee voted to approve the application by a majority vote, and voted not to defer the decision. The application has to go to the Secretary of State for final approval.
The routing of the power supply to the grid will be considered separately.
In the meantime, the Parish Council will campaign to ensure appropriate planning conditions to ensure the safety of residents, ramblers, dog walkers, and families during the construction phases, particularly along Tinker Lane.
25/05/2023
Rufforth with Knapton PC have formally objected to the proposal for a solar farm on land North of Rufforth, as agreed at the Parish Council annual meeting on 15 May, details as follows:
Re: 23/00626/FULM Agricultural Land to the North and South of Moor Lane Hessay York
For: A Solar Farm
Rufforth with Knapton Parish Council object to the above application on the following grounds:
- The proposed site is in the Green Belt as defined both in the Fourth Set of Changes Development Control Local Plan (2005) and in the emerging York Local Plan. The Rufforth with Knapton Neighbourhood Plan forms part of the development plan for the area and Policy RwK01 states “within the Green Belt inappropriate development will not be supported except in very special circumstances .” The NPPF does not define solar installations as appropriate development in the Green Belt. Whilst we accept and support the demand for renewable energy we contend that the proposed installation would do significant harm to the openness and character and setting of the Green Belt and as we shall show there is a more appropriate location within the area. The proposal would have a major impact on every residential property on the northern side of Rufforth and severely damage the views over open countryside from the village of Rufforth and specifically from the PROW which links Rufforth with Knapton and is widely used by residents of the Parish and people from the wider York area. In particular a key purpose of the Green Belt is to preserve the setting of historic features. The Church of All Saints, Rufforth is a listed building and there are wonderful views across open countryside (see attached photo) from the PROW to the Church which would be totally damaged by the proposed installation. In this context, the solar panels rise to over 3 metres high and the installation is to be surrounded by a 2 metre-plus fence.
- The land concerned is all agricultural land and looking forward, food security is equally as important as energy security, as evidenced by recent supply issues and food price increases. The applicant makes much of sheep grazing between the panels but because of the reduced density it would still result in a very significant loss of food-producing capacity. We strongly believe that wherever possible solar installations should be constructed on brownfield sites to avoid conflict between these two requirements. A considerable amount of food-producing land has already been lost in the Parish due to the Community Woodland project (which we do fully support). The applicant also talks about encouragement of wild flowers but if sheep are going to graze all year round then this in itself will negate the claimed wild flower benefits.
- Para’s 100 and 174 of the NPPF highlight the importance of public right of ways and access. We contend that the amenity value of the PROW is severely damaged by this proposal.
- We are concerned that the installation of the fence will restrict the free movement of the roe deer which are present in the area and transform a pleasant rural scene into something akin to a high-security prison. We also understand that the site is the habitat for a number of threatened bird species including curlews, lapwings and tree sparrows and are concerned about the adverse effects of the development on these valuable species. We remain totally unconvinced by the applicant’s bio diversity claims.
- We are concerned that there will be a low-volume, low-frequency sound from the equipment which has been documented to have an adverse effect on mental health and well-being and the potential effects on residents living on the northern side of Rufforth.
- We note and fully support the comments made by Rufforth Gliding Club. Of particular concern is that the Glint and Glare study has been conducted without full consultation with Rufforth Gliding Club. This in itself casts doubt on the credibility of this and other reports in the application. Rufforth is a very active airfield and the Gliding Club is listed as a Community amenity in the Neighbourhood plan. Any safety concerns as expressed by the Gliding Club are of immense concern to the Parish and previous planning history shows that air safety concerns have been a major factor in refusing applications.
- Whilst a community fund has been suggested, the amounts involved result in no significant benefit to residents of the Parish, when viewed in the context of current energy prices.
- We are aware that Yorwaste have submitted a pre-planning application for a solar installation on the redundant landfill at Harewood Whin. Furthermore, we are aware that due to capacity constraints with the connections to the Grid there is not scope for both applications. We contend that the Harewood Whin site is a far more suitable location in that the landfill site cannot be used for food production purposes nor for growing trees nor can public access be allowed. Para 8;17:6 of the Neighbourhood Plan says “the Plan also supports a solar panel installation (on Harewood Whin) providing its exact location does not have an adverse effect on the openness and character and setting of the green belt” It is our understanding that in the case of this Harewood Whin proposal due to the topography of the site, many of the panels would not be visible from the surrounding area.
It is our view that CYC should support their commitment as set out in the Green Infrastructure Strategy project as to the best use of scarce land resources in the Authority area, taking joint account of the need for carbon reduction, energy security and food security. The Harewood Whin proposal provides the opportunity of a real win-win, making use of redundant land, whilst not adversely affecting food security and preserving the Green Belt and we urge the Authority to take this approach by, in the first instance, refusing this application from Solar2.
In the event that despite our objections the project is approved then steps should be taken to mitigate the damage to the Green belt and in particular the views towards All Saints Church by relocating panels away from this area or reducing the size of the installation.
The proposal is for construction traffic to access the site via Tinker Lane. There are major safety concerns here as the PROW crosses Tinker Lane near the entrance to the proposed site. The PROW is widely used by pedestrians, cyclists, horse riders and families with children often on bikes, who have been used to crossing the up to now little used lane. Managing the obvious safety risks with large amounts of construction and HGV traffic along this route is a huge task and the promises of banksmen etc do little to allay our fears of a very serious incident.
We are also concerned about potential disruption to the PROW when constructing the link to the Grid and in the event of approval being given conditions should be imposed to prevent this.
19/04/2023
A full planning application for a solar farm and associated infrastructure has now been lodged with City of York Council; details can be seen on the City of York Council Planning Portal.
The Parish Council will meet to discuss this at our first meeting, following local and parish elections, on 15 May, and have secured an extension to comment until 22 May.
While it would not be appropriate at this stage to anticipate the Parish Council’s response, it was apparent from comments made by attendees at the recent drop-in event at Rufforth Institute, that there is concern about the choice of location, and, while residents generally recognise the need for renewable energy, they questioned whether productive land should be used for, conceivably, the next 40 years, at a time of food shortages/security, and that perhaps an alternative, brownfield, site might be better. The Parish Council will consider these comments at the meeting.
If you wish to speak at that meeting please register with the Parish Clerk clerk@rufforthwithknapton-pc.gov.uk 48 hours beforehand.
You may also comment directly to CYC on the planning notice.
16/02/2023
You may have heard that a large solar farm is being proposed on land stretching between Hessay And Rufforth and extending to the cycle path. The company behind this are engaging in a pre-planning consultation and will be leafletting residents with details in the next few days. If you haven’t already seen the leaflet, it can be found here.
It is important to note that this is a pre-planning consultation and any proposals will be subject to a full planning application. When and if a planning application is submitted the Parish Council will agree a response at a Parish Council meeting and residents will have the opportunity to comment or raise objections as appropriate.
In the meantime, we encourage residents to engage with this consultation process and let the Parish Council have your views.