AN application has been submitted to East Hampshire planners for the installation of photovoltaic panels on land adjacent to Powells Farm at Burkham, north-west of Alton.

The proposal, via Hook-based agent Bell Cornwell, is for the erection of three rows of photovoltaic panels with associated infrastructure on a 2,193.90 square metre strip of grassland, leaving a large area which will continue to be used for the grazing of animals.

Facing directly south, the panels will stand at a height of approximately 2,540mm (at the rear), and will be positioned behind a hedge for screening.

The electricity generated from the photovoltaic panels will feed back to a plant room via an underground cable which will be located on the corner of a barn to the south of the main farmhouse.

There will be no other structures located in the field.

The aim of the proposal is “to increase the sustainability credentials of Powells Farm by generating renewable energy on site, reducing energy consumption from the electricity distribution network”.

While the site will be visible from public footpath two, which runs to the south west, due to the small-scale nature of the photovoltaic panels the applicant believes it would not result in a significant visual impact to the surrounding countryside.

Furthermore, he points out that a precedent has been set with the granting of permission, at appeal, for a more significant photovoltaic farm on land in the neighbouring village of Bradley, which lies within the borough of Basingstoke and Deane.

In this case, the inspector concluded that the significant environmental benefits of the proposal “outweighed the harm caused to the landscape and the visual amenities of the countryside”.