Telford factory gets go-ahead for four acres of solar panels next to M54
A Telford factory is set to install four acres of solar panels on its site next to the M54 in a bid to save an estimated 521 tonnes of carbon emissions every year.
Ricoh UK Products Ltd applied to build the photovoltaic panels on open grassland west of its Priorslee factory.
A statement, submitted on behalf of the company, said the south-facing photovoltaic generators had to be placed on the ground, which is currently grassland, as they would be too heavy to go on the factory roof.
St Georges and Priorslee Council was consulted and raised no objection, and Telford and Wrekin Council’s planning department went on to grant planning permission.
In a design statement, planning agent Charlotte Powell of Arbora Homes Ltd estimated the panels, which would be set at a 20-degree angle and reach two metres at their highest point, would generate power equivalent to the amount used by 281 homes in a year.
“Ground-mounted solar has been proposed for the Ricoh site as the existing building roof structures are not capable of supporting the weight of roof-mounted installation,” she added.
“The application site occupies open ground currently managed as a wildflower grassland with informal recreational paths.”
The panels will initially be within sight of the 18th-century Priorslee Hall, which now forms part of the University of Wolverhampton’s Telford campus, but a 20-metre-wide belt of new trees and shrubs will be added, rendering the solar park invisible within a few years, she wrote.
In a decision notice, published on Friday, August 28, Telford & Wrekin Council planning officers said that “although its [Priorslee Hall’s] aspect would be foreshortened, the intervening field would continue to provide a sense of its historic rural outlook, whilst views of the modern Ricoh factory would also be partially obscured”.
A two-metre fence will also be built to surround the 1.6 hectare area, with CCTV cameras to keep it secure, Ms Powell added.
