Community garden to get solar system 86 panel project at Braehead gets the go ahead
Good fortune has shone upon Braehead Community Gardens with the approval of a solar project.
Braehead Community Development Trust submitted an application to Stirling Council planners to install a 30kw ground-mounted solar panel system, with 86 solar panels, on the edge of the project in Broom Road - and it has now been approved.
The system will generate energy to power three polytunnels and shipping containers on the site, with any remaining electricity being sold to the national grid.
Although on the edge of the Battle of Bannockburn designated site, Stirling Council’s archaeologist said previous development had likely destroyed any objects associated with the battle and had made the area less sensitive to further change.
In their decision, council planners said: “The site is a ‘community garden’ within a mixed residential/ commercial area and next to the main Stirling to Edinburgh/ Glasgow railway line. It is used by the community for growing fruit and vegetables and undertaking other activities with a health and fitness agenda.
“The site is enclosed by a fence and has a mix of raised wooden planting beds, two shipping containers (one a store, the other a workshop), three polytunnels and a ‘porta cabin’ type office. The proposed development site also lies on the fringes of the north-western boundary of the designated Battle of Bannockburn (1314).
“The highest part of the solar array would be visible from the public road at locations, as the site is passed, but as the frame and panels would be angled and due to the overall number and scale it is concluded the impact on the immediate public realm will be limited. There are no landscape designations in this area although the application site is on the fringes of the Battle of Bannockburn Battlefield.
“The loss of this land would not represent an unacceptable loss of this valuable area and does not raise a setting concern. Furthermore, the development is temporary and the land could be returned to its current use when the solar array ends its useful life.
“The scale of this solar array is appropriate for this location and it is felt that the proposal can be accommodated into its surroundings without adverse impact on the landscape character of the area and of the setting of the battlefield.”