Plans to install solar panels to provide sustainable energy for a North Yorkshire country estate are set to be approved.

The Swinton Estate, near Masham, has asked for planning permission for the installation of solar panels, landscaping and associated works on farmland to the east of Swinton Road and south of Masham Golf Course.

The installation would generate around 387 kWp of energy, sufficient to power 69 electric cars for a year.  The energy would mainly be used by the Swinton Estate, which includes Swinton Park Hotel, with any surplus energy fed back into the grid.

The Skipton and Ripon Area Planning Committee is due to debate the application next week.  The application will be brought before the committee as the estate is owned by Councillor Felicity Cunliffe-Lister.  The scheme would see a scaled-down version of a previous solar farm proposal that was withdrawn in 2023 after environmental concerns were raised.  The new plan moves the panels outside the Nidderdale National Landscape and away from listed buildings and the Grade II* registered park and garden at Swinton Park.

Planning officers said the solar panels would be well screened by woodland and hedgerows, and that the project would not cause harm to the landscape, nearby heritage assets or public views.

The council’s ecology report confirmed that the scheme will deliver a biodiversity net gain of more than 135 per cent, achieved through new grassland and hedgerow planting.

The Nidderdale National Landscape Joint Advisory Board and Yorkshire Gardens Trust both raised no objections, describing the proposal as a positive step toward the estate’s aim of becoming carbon neutral by 2030 and carbon negative by 2040.

A report to councillors, recommended that the application be approved, concluded: “On balance, the benefits of the development providing renewable energy to the Swinton Estate in an effort to reduce the estate’s environmental footprint, whilst contributing to the wider public benefits of reducing carbon emissions, are considered to outweigh any harm to the nearby heritage assets and wider landscape area.”

The project will also include new planting to strengthen existing woodland, a sensitive lighting scheme to protect wildlife, and conditions ensuring that the work would avoid the bird breeding season.