49.5MW solar farm approved on Grey Belt land near Cobham

A planning inspector has granted planning permission for a 49.5MW ground-mounted solar photovoltaic array on approximately 52 hectares of agricultural land east of Cobham Road, Bookham, following an inquiry held over five days in January and February 2026. The proposal is for a 40-year period and includes associated infrastructure, stock fencing, CCTV, biodiversity net gain measures and provision for sheep grazing beneath the panels.

The local planning authority, Mole Valley District Council, had refused planning permission on grounds relating to landscape character, the setting of heritage assets and Green Belt policy.

The inspector found that the site constitutes Grey Belt land under the revised National Planning Policy Framework (“NPPF”), as it does not strongly contribute to Green Belt purposes (a), (b) or (d) of paragraph 143, and there are no matters which raise a strong reason for refusal in terms of Footnote 7. Having concluded that the three relevant criteria in paragraph 155 of the NPPF were also met, the inspector also determined that the proposal is not inappropriate development in the Green Belt.

On landscape, the inspector concluded that there would be limited and localised harm which would diminish over time as mitigation planting matures, and that by Year 15 the landscape effect would be negligible.

As to heritage, the inspector identified temporary less than substantial harm at the lower and lowest end to five Grade I or Grade II listed assets, due to a slight reduction of the understanding of the setting of these assets. The inspector went on to conclude that the public benefits of the scheme were more than sufficient to outweigh the heritage harm.

The inspector accorded very substantial weight to the renewable energy benefits, noting the demonstrable unmet need for renewable energy and the national climate emergency. Separate weight was afforded to the need for domestic energy security, and the importance of fully utilising the available grid connection at Leatherhead Substation was afforded separate significant weight.

Significant weight was also given to ecological and biodiversity benefits, with agreed biodiversity net gain of 72.78% in habitats and 113.04% in hedgerows, far exceeding the statutory requirement. The inspector also attributed moderate positive weight to the continuation of agricultural use through sheep grazing and the resting of soils over the 40-year period, finding no harm to agricultural land despite 81.8% of the site being classified as best and most versatile. Economic benefits were also afforded moderate weight.

Overall, the inspector concluded that the very substantial benefits of the scheme clearly outweighed the limited and localised harms and that the planning balance favoured granting permission.

Odette Chalaby and Louise McCormack acted for the successful appellant, Cobham Road Solar Farm Ltd. Ben Fullbrook acted for Mole Valley District Council.