AN APPLICATION has beeen submitted to West Devon Borough Council for a raft of solar panels on a farm in Bere Alston.

The application, 2020/23/FUL, is for 20 ground-mounted solar panels arranged on one frame of eight panels and two frames of six panels at Collytown Barton Farm.

A planning statement with the application states that the panels would be in applicant Richard Pearcy’s garden to provide electricity for his home Collytown Farmhouse. They would be about 45 metres from the house and screened from view by tall mature trees. The would also not be visible from nearby roads or a bridleway closeby in a deep cutting shaded by trees.

The application states that Mr Pearcy and his wife wanted to install the solar array to reduce their carbon footprint. Comments are invited on the application via the planning section of West Devon Borough Council’s website by July 27.

Meanwhile, an application has been submitted to fell two large hornbeam trees with Tree Protection Orders (TPO) on them and replace them with smaller native species trees beside the Co-op in Brook Street, Tavistock.This follows a survey of the two substantial trees close to the Co-op’s boundary with the Tavistock Inn. The survey by tree surgeons recommends felling the trees because they are overshadowing the pub outdoor seating area and also growing in towards the roof.T

he roots of the two trees are also pushing up the paving slabs, which the survey suggested could be a trip hazard for people sitting on the bench by the pub. The recommendation is to replace both trees with some ‘smaller native species of tree more suited to the environment’.

And at Trundlebeer, South Tawton, Mr and Mrs J Squire have applied for permission to remove 506 metres of hedgerow on a farm (2171/23/HRN) to allow easier access for farm machinery.

Papers with the application state that the couple want to move three hedgerows on their farm to better allow access for agricultural machinery as they are moving away from livestock farming towards arable crops.

‘The removal of the hedges will greatly reduce the complication and disturbance of utlising modern agricultural equipment and machinery on the holding at Trundlebeer.’

The application states that they will remove the hedges over the winter months to avoid disturbing nesting birds and would also look to replace the hedgerows elswhere on the farm and close gaps in existing ones to create replacement habitate for wildlife.The applicants will look at planting native shrubs to provide a biodiversity net gain.