Plans for large solar farm rejected

Plans for a large solar farm, which one resident said would leave her “surrounded” by panels, have been rejected.

Elements Green Renewables applied to build the farm on green belt land in Seaham, which it said would generate enough electricity to power about 16,000 homes.

Durham County Council refused permission for the scheme on Stockton Road, after hearing objections from Celia Wright who said it would have a “monumental impact” on her family’s life.

The company said it believed the scheme’s “very special circumstances” outweighed any harm and the project would deliver “clear and urgent clean energy benefits”.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Wright told the council’s planning committee: “Our house and surrounding garden will have solar panels on three sides of our property boundary.

“We will be surrounded.

“We spend a lot of time in the garden and have a vegetable allotment — the panels will literally be just over the fence.”

The site straddles the boundary between County Durham and Sunderland, meaning planning permission was required from both councils.