Please can I congratulate Lydney Town Council for objecting to the solar farm planning application at Purlieu near Lydney (P0871/14/FUL).

The development is described as 'Nibley Mill Solar Farm', which is a mile and a half away, and nowhere near the proposed location.

Fortunately, the highways and planning committee appreciated exactly where this mammoth 37 hectare site is and its scale equal to 52 football pitches. The development, which has panels three metres high, buildings and roads surrounded by a perimeter fence and CCTV, effectively destroys one of the loveliest landscapes in Lydney and the Forest of Dean.

For once there was a collective agreement that the size and scale was far too much for the landscape and locality.

A member of Dean Community Energy Group spoke against the proposal and James Greenwood chairing the committee described the community benefit being offered by the company 'aee Renewables', as a paltry sum given the vast profits they were set to make from such a massive development.

The proposed site is highly visible from the A48, roads and other footpaths and less than half a mile from the Hurst Farm solar development nearby.

The erosion of green fields for so little economic return is entirely wrong and this particular development will have a knock-on effect damaging many businesses.

The developer has thrown thousands of pounds in reports to convince the council that the development is acceptable when it clearly goes against all the current planning guidance recommending flat, previously used sites or roof tops.

The same developer, which recently lost a planning appeal for a solar farm on a similar site in the Mendips, has learned nothing and continues to push inappropriate schemes that the public reject.

When the district council planning committee considers this report please can they act as a single body in rejecting this damaging proposal?

Renewable energy schemes often raise heated arguments; this one should not, as no one wants it and there are clear planning grounds for refusing it.

– Joyce Waldegrave, Ned's Top Residents' Action Group.