Planning application to build solar farm on former mining site in Bedlington submitted

The project by Bluefield Development, which planning documents say represents £84m of investment, hopes to have a 50MW capacity and will produce enough energy for 13,000 households over the course of a year.

The solar farm and associated battery storage system will be located on a former opencast coal mine site south of the town, near Bedlingtonshire Golf Club.

Bluefield Development managing director Jonathan Selwyn said: “It is providing clean, renewable energy for people to use locally.

“It will contribute towards Northumberland County Council’s carbon policies, reducing carbon emissions in the county and meeting climate change commitments.

“At a more local level, we will be providing a significant community benefit fund that we are talking to West Bedlington Town Council about, in terms of identifying projects for expenditure for that fund.

“Solar power is the cheapest power that there is available right now. Obviously with the current cost of living crisis and the energy crisis it is very important to have low-cost home-grown energy being generated.”

If approved, the site would take between six and nine months to build and will be unmanned and remotely monitored, with only occasional maintenance and cleaning required.

The firm says it will use local contractors and suppliers where possible and that construction will create around 100 temporary jobs.

Despite the size of the development, Bluefield said tree coverage at the site’s border means the visual impact of the site on surrounding homes will be minimal.

The developer has also secured a deal with the bordering golf club to route construction vehicles across their land, in order to reduce any traffic impact on the town centre.

There are no public footpaths that would be closed or blocked by the solar farm’s construction.

According to a report attached to the planning application, the development has the potential to improve biodiversity at the site, with a net gain of up to 43% possible.

Jonathan said: “We have been working very closely with Northumberland County Council and also with West Bedlington Town Council. We have had a lot of public engagement.

“We had an event a couple of months ago at West Bedlington Town Council’s premises, which was very well attended by about 75 local people.

He added: “We have been working on this project for a long time, and we hope that we have done a lot to satisfy local residents that the impact, if there is any impact, will be short term, because construction is a very short process.

“It has got to go through the due planning process, but we are hopeful that it will be well received.”

The lifespan of the solar farm is 40 years, after which the equipment on the site will be removed and the land restored.

Bluefield Development, which already owns over 100 UK solar farms, has already secured planning permission to build a solar farm to the west of Bedlington, and another between Blyth and Cramlington, but construction is yet to begin at these sites.