A 100-panel solar farm within the grounds of a private home in Grouville has been approved by Planning.
The ‘solar array’ will be built about 250m to the northwest of Gouray Lodge, off Gorey Hill, and will provide energy to the residence.
Each panel will be around 70 cm high and Planning have concluded that there will be no “adverse visual impact”.
The array will be installed in an area which was historically woodland but experienced a significant loss of trees during Storm Ciaran. No more trees will need to be removed.
In approving the application, which was categorised as ‘major’, the Planning Officer concluded: “While the application site is within the Green Zone, it is situated within a secluded area with no public viewpoints into the site.
“The proposal will provide clean energy to serve the existing properties on the site and will contribute to the delivery of renewable energy.”
Conditions attached to the approval include a proviso that the entire array is removed within six months of it stopping to generate electricity.
Over the last few years, larger arrays have been built in fields by the JEC, including sites in St Clement and St John.
The first, Moulin à Vent in St Clement, will power the equivalent of 14% of the parish’s homes over the next 40 years.
