Public consultation on Dumfriesshire solar farm plans

dailyrecord.co.uk:

The first public consultation events for a proposed massive solar farm over 24 sites from Gretna to Eaglesfield in Dumfries and Galloway have been held – as an action group and a petition have been set up to oppose it.The Dumfriesshire project, known as Wyseby Hill Energy Farm, has lodged a “proposal of application notice” with Dumfries and Galloway Council in a bid to generate “clean, renewable energy” through a solar photovoltaic array electricity generating scheme.Centred around Wyseby Hill Farm at Kirkpatrick Fleming and spread out over the fields around different settlements including Gretna, Chapelknowe and Eaglesfield, it would span 3,250 acres – the equivalent of 1,842 football pitches.Stockport-based developers Green Energy International have begun backing up their pre-application with two public consultation events held on Thursday and Friday at The Smiths hotel in Gretna Green.However, their invites to pre-book attendance at the meetings only fell through residents letterboxes two days before they were due to be held, generating complaints over the short notification.GEI said that the energy farm – which involves 14 landowners – has stressed that it is “in the early stages of development”.They have identified 196 residential properties within 100 metres of the various sites and said the consultation days had been affected residents’ “first opportunity to get involved and help shape the development moving forward”.They said their aim is to “create a sustainable future by generating enough electricity to power 197,000 homes and businesses” and there will be three more opportunities for public consultation in 2025.The developers also said: “The planning process includes a full environmental assessment, community