She is Britain’s second most decorated female Olympian, with three gold medals in equestrian events, but Charlotte Dujardin’s biggest victory was not achieved on horseback.
I can announce that a controversial bid to cover Gloucestershire’s picturesque fields with solar panels, which she opposed alongside fellow gold medalist Carl Hester, has been quashed.
The dressage riders said plans for the six-megawatt solar farm near the stables they use could hinder the fitness of their horses and damage their chances of Team GB selection.
Developers had challenged Forest of Dean District Council’s decision to refuse planning permission to install solar panels on around 34 hectares of farmland in Upleadon, Gloucestershire – an area around eleven times the size of Trafalgar Square.
But now a planning inspector has appealed from Pathfinder Clean Energy UK Dev Ltd. turned down.
Charlotte Dujardin celebrates winning bronze in the Grand Prix Freestyle – Individual Final, with Gio, becoming Britain’s most decorated female Olympian with six medals at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games
The dressage riders said plans for the six-megawatt solar farm near the stables they use could hinder the fitness of their horses and damage their chances of Team GB selection. In the photo: Charlotte Dujardin
Carl Hester (left) and Charlotte Dujardin (right) raise the Union flag in honor of their medal win at Tokyo 2020
Developers had challenged Forest of Dean District Council’s decision to refuse planning permission to install solar panels on around 34 hectares of agricultural land in Upleadon, Gloucestershire. In the photo: Charlotte Dujardin
District councilors had already voted against the plan. The solar panels, which would have provided power to more than 2,600 homes, met strong opposition from dozens of residents and the parish council.
Planning inspector John Woolcock said he felt the proposal would have a significant negative impact on the landscape.
He said in his decision that the site is in the Severn Vale, a vast landscape with a complex mix of arable and pasture farming.
Hedgerows and field trees are an important landscape feature, he added, and prominent on the many small hills rising from the valley.
“I am of the opinion that the appellant underestimates the sensitivity of the landscape receptor in this deeply rural setting,” he said.
‘The metal and glass panels, together with their regular arrangement in long rows, would not fit in with the character of the area.
‘The color and texture of the panels would not be typical of the agricultural context, and so the proposed development would introduce a utilitarian element into this deeply rural landscape.’