PPLAN has been created by residents to help preserve the landscape and nature of Powick for the benefits of residents, visitors and local wildlife. We are fighting the proposed development of an industrial scale solar complex within the setting of the Malvern Hills adjacent to the villages of Powick, Bastonford and Leigh Sinton.
Your donations will help fund initiatives to combat this development, including:
- website creation
- banners on the busy and main A449 Worcester to Malvern road which will be subject to 7 months of roadworks during construction
- professional landscape, ecology and heritage consultants to challenge the biased documents submitted by the applicant in its planning application
The German developer (see below) is a multi-billion euro company with deep pockets. We need professional support to combat what is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, planning application to go before Malvern Hills District Council (MHDC) and which could compromise the local countryside for generations to come. We are concerned that despite MHDC officers' best efforts, they do not have the capacity to properly assess this application and may bow to pressure from current national agendas.
Any unused donations will be used to enhance biodiversity in the local area delivering projects in liaison with local parish councils.
The proposed development is for solar panels and battery energy storage systems covering an area in excess of 270 acres, almost 200 football pitches. Full details can be found on the Malvern Hills District Council planning portal.
The planning application is opposed by the Malvern Hills National Landscape and Malvern Hills Trust who have concerns that it will blight the setting of and views from the Malvern Hills, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, as shown in the photo below:
This scheme is just one of several proposed in this setting - your donation can help nip the systematic destruction of this iconic countryside in the bud, as other developers will see that this type of scheme will not get approved in this setting.
In addition to the concerns raised by these organisations, we have the following concerns:
- Roadworks on A449 will create gridlock for people commuting and going about their daily lives and potential loss of life and injury through:
- delays to emergency services reaching patients and victims
- road traffic accidents on diversionary roads unable to handle the volume of traffic
- Fire risk - there have been at least 3 fires in the UK this year involving Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) similar to that proposed at Monksfield Farm
- BESS fires can cause thermal runaway resulting in toxic vapour clouds (which can in turn lead to life changing health conditions) and permanent contamination of land and water supplies
- The developer is choosing to ignore fire service recommendations in its safety plans
- Noise - piledriving audible from several hundred metres will be going on for 12 hours per day, 7 days per week for at least a year
- listen here (unmute the sound in top right of the video)
- Loss of landscape amenity - several public footpaths and viewpoints used regularly by local residents will be compromised, with 2.8m high solar panels and security fencing destroying views towards the Malvern Hills
- Impact on local wildlife including birds, bats, deer etc and the rare white-clawed crayfish
The company behind the development is the German giant RWE. Despite the fluffy green image presented in it's brochures, this is the same RWE that is suing governments for losses sustained due to climate change policies, and destroys ancient forests to enable its opencast mining of brown coal. For further information on RWE's greenwashing credentials see click here.