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Aylesbeare
Parish Council broadly supports this project because of the need for generation
of renewable energy and the need for farms to diversify. Aylesbeare Parish Council also supports the
significant level of biodiversity and the amount of land given to wildlife and
nature. However, the Council does have significant
concerns which it hopes the Planners will address. They are:-
Construction
phase
The
route planned for the goods to arrive on site follows roads that flood
frequently due, in part, to old drains that regularly get damaged. Aylesbeare Parish Council is concerned that
road surveys will only address the surface of the route to and from the
compound near the airport. The Council
believes that a camera survey of the drains should be required before and after
the project to ensure that the drains are left in as good or, hopefully, better
condition after the construction has finished.
The
project will inevitably lead to mud being left on the public highways of the
transport route. Aylesbeare Parish
Council hopes that the Planners will include a condition that the roads are
suitably cleaned immediately after use to avoid this obvious accident risk.
The
hard surfaces throughout the project (including the lanes will need drainage
that does not rely on percolation as the soil is clay.
The
road to be used does have a DCC Highways sign saying “Unsuitable for
HGVs”. Aylesbeare Parish Council trusts
that the roads will be made suitable for the heavy construction traffic without
damage to Devon banks and hedgerows leaving a permanent benefit for the
community.
Aylesbeare
Parish Council hopes that, should the project go ahead, Highways will take the
opportunity to impose a sensible speed limit on Marwood Road which is
continually used as a high-speed ‘rat run’ by commuters and delivery drivers.
The
Parish Council also hopes that consideration is given to the possibility of a
vehicle breakdown during a convoy. This
would surely block the road and arrangements for rapid recovery should be made.
Once
the construction is complete Aylesbeare Parish Council hopes it will be a
condition to restore the area to original conditions wherever possible.
Ongoing
The
footpath from which a viewpoint is given in the plans is marked incorrectly on
the map – the view in reality will be almost completely of PV panels on the
actual path.
The
tree shielding that is planned will need planting with semi-mature trees rather
than whips as it will take a decade or more before the whips provide an
acceptable level of shielding.
The
water attenuation will be fundamental to the success of the site in a locality
where flooding is common. Footpath 7
towards Aylesbeare, Marwood Road, Marsh Green play area and many other smaller
areas flood easily.
The
Landscape areas in Aylesbeare have been reduced from earlier (unsubmitted)
plans. These areas will be needed as the
hedgerows are in 3rd party ownership.
The
fencing of the panelled fields will need to allow wildlife passage between the
fields. Aylesbeare Parish Council hopes
such fencing is compatible with sheep grazing.
Aylesbeare
Parish Council hopes the Planners are satisfied that enough consideration has
been given to the SSSI only one field to the east away from the project
boundary.
Aylesbeare
Parish Council trusts that the Planners will place conditions that, should the
PV panels be removed after the 40-year life of the project that the then owners
must return the site to agricultural use only.
Aylesbeare
Parish Council had hoped that the applicants would give firmer details of the
Community Benefit Fund including an approximate amount of funding and
specifications of the uses to which it can be put.
Finally,
Parish Council is surprised that the RSPB has not been consulted by EDDC on
this major project and there are no details of consultation with the gas
transmission company as a high-pressure gas main runs directly across the site.
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