An application to build a solar farm on a site the size of almost 14 football pitches in an English national park has been turned down.
According to the BBC, Enviromena Project Management UK Ltd had applied to install more than 12,000 solar panels and two sub-stations at a 9.85-hectare site at Thornlands Farm, the New Forest.
In its planning application, the renewable energy project said it would provide about 6MW of renewable energy to the National Grid, enough to power 2,450 homes per year.
Enviromena Project Management UK Ltd highlighted the farm would be in the “least tranquil” part of the New Forest.
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But the National Park Authority ruled against the solar farm project, saying it represented a “major development” that would normally be refused within a national park.
In its ruling, the authority said the application failed to adequately show it would not impact wildlife and habitat.
But the authority said it would support solar schemes “that are consistent with the emphasis on small-scale developments”.
In May this year, the energy security secretary Claire Coutinho told Parliament that food production must take precedence over solar farms when it comes to the use of land..
