A DECISION made by a planning inspector will do long-term damage to businesses in Ludlow and south Shropshire.

That is the view of a leading Ludlow councillor following a decision to overturn on appeal a refusal for a large solar farm on the outskirts of the town.

Consideration will be given to the ruling before a decision is made about whether to seek a judicial review although this could be very expensive.

Kronos Solar, from Germany, had warned that they would go to appeal if planners from Shropshire Council turned down their bid to build the solar farm at Henley Hall.

This is what they did when Shropshire Council’s southern area planning committee rejected the scheme.

Now Kronos has won on appeal and Andy Boddington, who represents Ludlow on Shropshire Council says he is outraged at the decision.

“This is the industrialisation of the countryside and will do huge damage to the local economy although it is impossible to put a number on it,” said Andy Boddington.

“People come here for our beautiful and unspoilt countryside and the area is heavily dependent upon tourism.

“There is no local benefit from this solar farm because it is a German company and an absent landowner.”

Kronos Solar say that the solar farm will be on low grade agricultural land and will still enable sheep to graze the site.

They say the solar farm will be screened by trees and landscaping and will have no lighting and feed up to 5MW of power directly into the local sub-station with no need for pylons.

But Andy Boddington is not convinced.

“Solar power has a part to play but only a small one and panels can be put on buildings not in beautiful countryside,” he said.

“The problem is that solar produces energy best when it is hot and the sun is shining so it is not needed.”

But he has reserved his biggest criticism for the system of planning appeals that enables local decisions to be overturned.

“They come here for a few days and make hasty judgements on what should or should not go ahead,” added Andy Boddington.

“The planning inspectorate will probably never come here again to look at the consequences of this decision. They will never conduct a reality check on the damage they have done to the countryside on the edge of town. No one in Bristol will look at the long effects on tourism or ever come back to try to understand the impact of their decisions.

“Ludlow people and businesses have a huge pride in the beauty and character of our countryside. They sell this when they engage with people and invite them to visit our locality. This ugly development is far more visible that the inspector noticed on his quick trips around the area in his car. The planning inspector didn’t understand this because he was only passing through.

“If bad decisions like this are to be made, it is better that they are made locally where decision makers are democratically accountable.”

The only form of appeal now available would be to seek a judicial review on the legal aspects of how the appeal judgement has been made but this could be very expensive.

“If I was a rich man I would have been on to my lawyer straight away,” Andy Boddington said.

“We will need to consider the judgement in detail and decide if there is any potential for this.”