Read the CPRE Kent response to proposal for Ash Level solar farm

Plans have sparked an impressive response from protestors

CPRE Kent has submitted a substantial objection to a planned solar farm on Ash Level in east Kent.

Consultation on the proposed 205-acre proposal by Little South Clean Energy Ltd for Goshall Valley, East Street, closes today (Monday, February 19) and there has been an impressive response to the scheme, which would have marked impact on the heritage, landscape and ecology of a largely unspoilt stretch of countryside.

The website Save Ash Level sets out the concerns of so many local people, who face losing much of their only green space between Ash and Sandwich.
Among the range of issues cited by Save Ash are:

• Harm to the heritage significance and landscape setting of the scheduled Roman site of Richborough, which includes the Grade I-listed Richborough Castle
• Destruction of an area enjoyed by locals for walks, bike rides and horse rides
• The land is potentially Best and Most Versatile (BMV) agricultural land at Grades 1, 2 and 3a
• Threat to protected species such as water vole, beaver, turtle dove and barn owl
• The site lies almost entirely within the Ash Level and South Richborough Pasture Local Wildlife Site, designated for supporting a range of habitats, including coastal and floodplain grazing marsh and a botanically rich ditch network

A decision from Dover District Council on the application is expected by March 22.

• To read the CPRE Kent response to the planning application, click here
• Visit the Save Ash Level website here