A planned 28-hectare (69-acre) solar farm in the Herefordshire countryside has taken a step closer to being built.

The 20-megawatt array would be on fields at Upper Horton Farm near the village of Edwyn Ralph, north of Bromyard.

Herefordshire Council has now ruled that the developer, Green Energy International (GEI) of Stockport, does not have to provide an environmental impact assessment in order to gain approval.

“The proposed development is not considered to give rise to significant environmental effects on the surrounding environment,” its decision said.

It “will incorporate ecological enhancement and biodiversity net gain” and “will not cause a permanent loss of agricultural land”, while “transport and associated emissions would be limited to the construction and decommissioning phases”, the council said.

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Its decision was informed by a report submitted by GEI, which said the project would generate around 43,000 megawatt-hours per year of “clean renewable electricity” over 40 years.

It describes the farm as “ideal for such a project”, and says its visibility from nearby properties “would not be overly high”. A “glint and glare assessment” would however be required to determine the impact of any reflected light.

Rather than being static, the panels would track the sun’s motion, giving 20-25 per cent more output, its report explains.

There would be a substation and control room, while regular “inverter/transformer stations” in green metal containers 12 metres long and 2.6m high would also be required, along with post-mounted security cameras.

A 2.2m-high surrounding fence would “potentially allow sheep to graze securely”, GEI’s report adds, noting that the agricultural land forgone “is not the best”.

It will still have to seek planning permission for the development.