Plans to install 68 solar panels at a farm in West Sussex village submitted to Chichester District Council

The application for Reeds Farm, in Colworth Lane, seeks permission for the ground-mounted panels to be installed in a yard which has been used to store farming equipment and silage bales for more than 50 years.

A design statement from applicant The Woodhorn Group said the plan had originally been to install the panels on south-facing farm buildings but none were suitable from a strength and design perspective.

If approved, the panels and frames will stand 3.8m high and will cover 462sqm of land, with an open space between the two rows.

They will have a capacity of 52 Kw.

The statement added: “As part of our organic and sustainability ethos, we are working to a net zero objective.

“This project is specifically designed to address our electricity use via the installation of solar panels and thus making the dairy farm self-sufficient in renewable power for our milking parlour, water heating and milk cooling plants and lighting in all our buildings.”

To view the application, log on to publicaccess.chichester.gov.uk and search for 23/02591/FUL.