Planners Approve Solar Panels in Wye Valley AONB with Conditions for Removal After 25 Years or When No Longer Generating Electricity

PLANNERS have given a homeowner the okay to place solar panels next to her house in the Wye Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. 
Victoria Burgess had applied to Monmouthshire County Council for planning permission for 16 panels, in two rows of eight, to be placed on the ground in a field next to her home, at Ty Du Road, Itton Common, Chepstow.   
There is a hedge separating the field from the house and the panels would be placed next to it.  
But Josh Bailey, the Wye Valley AONB planning officer, said the panels would be better sited on the roof of the house or within her garden due to the visual impact. 
But Monmouthshire County Council planning officer Adam Foote said it didn’t consider the panels would have an unacceptable impact upon the character of the wider area or landscape which could justify a refusal. 
A condition of the planning permission is that the panels are removed within two months of them no longer generating electricity, with the ground returned to its original condition, or after 25 years, whichever is sooner. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​