A planning application has been submitted to East Renfrewshire Council for the construction of a solar farm on green belt land in Eaglesham.
The development would comprise the installation of approximately 41,000 ground-mounted Solar Photovoltaic (PV) modules and with associated infrastructure.
The application site is on land to the South-West of Bonnyton Golf Club and the solar farm is expected to have an export capacity of up to 28MW.
The submission of the solar farm application follows East Renfrewshire Council controversially granting planning permission for a 40MW battery energy storage facility on nearby green belt land at the East Side of Glasgow Road.
Eastwood MSP, Jackson Carlaw who is strongly against the battery plant development has also formally opposed the solar farm proposal and he is calling on local residents to object.
The standard consultation expiry date to submit objections is Tuesday 5th August but in practice, the council will usually consider all comments on planning applications up to the point where a decision is set to be made.
Residents can object by typing in the reference number - 2025/0405/TP – on the planning applications search page of the council’s website and through the comments section of the casefile.
People can also object via e-mail at: [email protected] or by writing to the Head of Place at 2 Spiersbridge Way, Thornliebank, East Renfrewshire, G46 8NG.
Scottish Conservative MSP for Eastwood, Jackson Carlaw said:
“There is a serious risk that large swathes of green belt land in Eaglesham could now be lost to development.
“The solar farm proposal suggests that the unacceptable decision of Labour and Independent councillors to grant planning permission for the battery plant may lead to a stream of applications for energy infrastructure projects on our local greenfield sites.
“There is no evidence in the planning support statement that the applicant has fulfilled a key requirement of Scotland’s National Planning Framework 4 to identify and explore if the development can be on land that is not part of the green belt.
“Whilst planning powers are devolved to Scotland, the position of the previous UK Conservative Government was that brownfield areas should be prioritised for solar development.
“It is vital that the case continues to be made for protecting Eaglesham’s green belt and I urge local residents to object to the solar farm planning application.”
Notes:
Jackson pictured at the battery plant site.
Jackson's objection letter attached.
The search function on the planning applications section of the council’s website can be accessed via - https://ercbuildingstandards.eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk/buildingstandards/search.do?action=simple&searchType=Application
