Plans to build a solar farm in Inchinnan – which were described an “exciting prospect” – have been given the green light by Renfrewshire Council.
Mactaggart and Mickel Investments have secured permission to develop the park on land between Nether Southbar and East Fulwood on Greenock Road.
The development is set to involve the installation of ground-mounted photovoltaic panels, with associated infrastructure, to generate up to 14.3 megawatts of renewable energy for the local electricity grid network.
A planning report said around half of the site would be occupied by solar panels arranged in rows, while the other half would be designated for landscaping and cereal crops for migratory whooper swans, as well as access tracks and storage areas.
Sub-stations, CCTV cameras and perimeter fencing are also planned for the site.
Council leader Iain Nicolson, an SNP representative for Inchinnan, told a recent planning board: “We’re seeing a few of these solar farms coming through in the pipeline – there’s quite a large one coming for Houston as well – so it’s important that the planning service recognises the impact that these particular developments may have in the green belt and more rural areas of Renfrewshire.
“It’s really important we step off on the right foot with regards to how we deal with these and approach them.
“The local community were very supportive of it but a lot of questions were asked about wildlife habitats, fencing, it’s on a low-lying plain, all the things that local people are quite rightly interested in knowing.
“Those have all been encompassed within the report, so that’s really good to see. I hope this sets off as a template with regards to how we manage the other ones that are coming through at Houston and other sites.”
However, he said it was key the land keeps its green belt status if the solar park was to be dismantled at any point.
The report said if the site is decommissioned it would need to be returned to its previous agricultural use and not “reclassified as brownfield land”.
Councillor Ben Smith, the Labour group’s climate spokesperson, welcomed the development and said: “It’s an exciting prospect.
“Scotland and the Scottish Government have a bit of catching up to do in terms of solar panels in comparison to countries like Spain.
“It’s good to see. It’s also an extremely robust application with the conditions the planners have put in, in terms of decommissioning and so on. I would just like to say that I welcome this.”
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