South West Water (SWW) have submitted a planning application for a solar power farm covering about 30 acres at their Water Treatment Works in Hampstead Farm Lane. You can read all the details of the application and responses to it on the South Hams District Council (SHDC) planning website by following this link to the application: 2929/23/FUL.
Littlehempston Parish Council held a special meeting to consider the application on Tuesday 12th December. Here’s a link to the draft minutes.
Ten members of the public attended the meeting including representatives from SWW and Aardvark EM Ltd, an environmental planning consultancy acting on behalf of SWW.
After listening to many questions from parishoners and the responses from SWW and Aardvark EM the Parish Council agreed to submit a response to SHDC saying that on balance they were undecided.
At the time of writing, about 100 responses to this application have been submitted by members of the public. The majority of those responses suggest that a public path for walking and cycling should be included in the plans. The path would lead to and from the Bulliver footbridge across the river Dart and give access from Littlehempston to the South Devon Railway station, the Rare Breeds Farm and Totnes.
Although the SHDC planning website says that the consultation period ended on 11th December, you can still submit responses that will be considered, if possible, until a final decision on the application is made.