CWAC signs off 136-acre solar farm, rejects 70 homes

Going against officer recommendation, members narrowly voted to refuse outline consent for land promoter Wain Estates’ plans off London Road, Davenham.

The housing application occupied Cheshire West and Chester Council’s planning committee for close to two hours, prior to which an application from Innova Renewables Developments for a site close to Frodsham had won through, by six votes to four.

Innova’s proposals, revealed in March last year, are for a 20Mw facility. The land at Aston Grange would house a south-facing array of ground-mounted photovoltaic panels, with an energy storage facility also to be built at the site.

Lichfields is advising the applicant. Minor issues raised in the consultation period, including visual amenity and site drainage, have been dealt with to the satisfaction of council officers.

With housing always a hot topic in Cheshire, Wain Estates’ plans looked likely to face a longer grilling, and so it proved. The thorny issue of CWAC’s’ five-year supply had been a critical point in officers recommending approval. Wain is working with FPCR and Pinnacle Planning.

The plans for 70 homes accessed from London Road had been called into committee by Cllr Dan Marr, on the grounds of impact on the highway network.

Cllr Marr was among several speakers at the meeting. He said he had called the matter in because “I and many of the residents in our area have significant concerns about the very worst type of speculative planning application preying on our rural communities”.

The application, Cllr Marr said, stretched the definition of sustainable development in that, although abutting Davenham’s settlement boundary, it is a mile from the village’s centre, and entirely within the parish of Bostock, meaning residents “would need to get in the car to go anywhere, which is not a good start”.

The site’s proximity to flood risk zones was also a big issue, he said – although the lead local flood authority, a statutory consultee, had raised no objection in this area.

As set out in the officer report, the 14-6-acre site sits south of Davenham village close to Northwich, along the southern edge of an area known as Mere Heath, a small hamlet that now forms part of Davenham.

Access to the site is taken from a single point on the western side of London Road via Peckmill Farm. An on-site provision of 30% affordable homes was put forward by Wain Estates.

Administratively, and as alluded to by Cllr Marr, it falls within the Bostock parish area, which merged with Davenham Parish Council in May 2023 to form Davenham and Bostock Parish Council. This body was a registered objector, along with around 70 representations submitted.

For some on the committee, the outline nature of the plans, with no specific information on matter such as housing breakdown presented a problem – “it’ difficult to make a decision when you don’t know what you’re getting” one member observed.

With a refusal proposed, the reasons were summed up as the loss of best and most versatile agricultural land; the lack of flood risk information; encroachment into the countryside; and the impact on a local heritage asset, in the form of the 19^th century Peckmill Farm – CWAC’s conservation officer had said before the meeting the scheme would cause “some harm” here.

The Innova scheme can be viewed on the CWAC planning portal, reference 24/03807/FUL, and the Wain one at 25/01218/OUT.