Major impact on our popular Rights of Way

Church Broughton Footpath 9 runs North from the end of Badway Lane towards Barton Blount.  The loop it forms with Footpath 10 from the end of Chapel Lane is the village's most popular short, walking route through fields.   We know from our Rights of Way User Survey that lots of people from further afield also use it.

The picture below shows an aerial view of Footpath 10 as it passes through one of the fields that would be filled by Solar panels, Security fences and CCTV.  The second picture shows Footpath 9 in Winter in the same large field.  Both footpaths join onto Footpath 7 to form a longer route from which Barton Blount Hall can be seen.  

Footpaths 7, 9, 10, 12 and 13 and Bridleway 1 (Green dashed line on the map below) would all be signficantly impacted by this development and would lose all of their natural beauty and amenity value for our community.  Footpath 6 would also be impacted if the proposed area is further extended to the South-East, which we know is also being considered based on discussions with local landowners.

Footpath 7 offers fantastic views across Church Broughton and the wider area given its elevated position as it crosses the main drive into Barton Blount Hall (see below).  The field shown is another area that would be completely filled by solar panels if the proposal goes ahead.

You can get a very strong sense of the beauty and amenity value of our local footpaths by watching the following video by Dave Harris.  It really is a super piece of film from 2020 that captures the essence of our area very well.  This is what we would be losing.

A walk around Barton Blount from Church Broughton 

Dave has produced a second wonderful video showing Church Broughton and its surrounding area :

Mavic Mini over Church Broughton 

The picture below shows how extensively our most popular local walk (around footpaths 7, 9 and 10) will be swamped by the solar farm :

Loss of agricultural land

Church Broughton is surrounded by a rich tapestry of fields, ancient hedgerows and mature trees to the North and West.  The picture below shows land that would be occupied by the Solar Farm.  St Michael's church is on the left and the lines of Footpaths 12 & 13 can be seen in the top left hand corner of the shot.

The significant majority of the fields to the North of Church Broughton are Grade 3 (Good to Moderate) agricultural land that would be lost to productive use (shown in Green on the map above).

Loss of Our Landscape Character

Closely allied to the agricultural use of our area, is its "character".  National Character Areas (NCAs) were published by Natural England to define and describe England’s distinct landscapes and support environmental planning, conservation, and land management.

We fall under National Character Area 68 - Needwood and South Derbyshire Claylands

Natural England’s Statements of Environmental Opportunity (SEOs) identify priorities for conserving, enhancing, and restoring the character of each NCA. Two of these are particularly relevant to the proposed solar development.

SEO 1

Conserve and enhance the essential character of this mainly pastoral mixed-farm landscape with its distinctive field and settlement patterns, hedgerow trees, varied hedgerow types and heritage assets, enhancing and expanding the network of farmland habitats and improving access opportunities while sustaining food provision.

The proposed development conflicts with this objective for the following reasons:

• The area’s distinctive character is defined by a mixed landscape of pasture, arable farmland, woodland, hedgerows and dispersed settlements. This combination creates the rural character, openness and tranquillity that residents and visitors value and which should be protected and retained.

• South Derbyshire’s Local Plan identifies both Church Broughton and Sutton on the Hill as rural villages. A solar installation approaching 300 acres in extent represents industrial-scale development within an open countryside setting. Its scale would fundamentally alter the character of the landscape and erode the rural setting of both settlements.

• The landscape impact of the proposal cannot be considered in isolation. The wider area has already experienced significant change through the development of Dove Valley Park, one of (if not) the largest industrial and logistics developments delivered in South Derbyshire in recent decades. While physically separated from Church Broughton, Dove Valley Park has introduced a substantial industrial presence through large warehouse buildings, extensive lighting, increased traffic and associated infrastructure. Further expansion and increased building heights have already been approved. The latter further increasing the visibility of buildings in the Park from the village itself.

• The proposed solar development would introduce a second large-scale form of industrial infrastructure into the landscape. Positioned to the north of Church Broughton, it would effectively surround the village with industrial-style development, extending landscape change from the southern approaches already dominated by Dove Valley Park to the north, east and west. The cumulative effect would be a significant and unacceptable erosion of the village’s rural character and setting.

SEO 3

Protect the historic and cultural features of Needwood and the South Derbyshire Claylands, in particular the traditional settlement patterns of remaining villages, traditional farmsteads and the country estates that provide a strong sense of place.

The proposal is also inconsistent with this objective:

• The setting of our historic buildings and parklands, villages and farmsteads should be maintained. A development proposal of significant scale in this setting does not respect landscape character, local distinctiveness or sense of place and devalues our natural capital.

• The extensively hedged pastoral landscape around Church Broughton and Barton Blount provides an increasingly rare sense of tranquillity, openness and sense of immersion in open countryside. These qualities are important not only to village residents but also to visitors from nearby urban areas and surrounding villages seeking access to the countryside away from the presence of the A50.

• Farmlands hold significant cultural and heritage value. They are a key component of England’s traditional countryside landscape, as well as a place for recreation via rural Public Rights of Way.

• The landscape between Church Broughton and Barton Blount possesses a particularly strong sense of place. It allows appreciation of important heritage assets, including the Grade I listed church at Church Broughton, Barton Hall and its historic parkland setting. The introduction of a large-scale solar array into this landscape would adversely affect the setting, appreciation and significance of these heritage and landscape assets.

Negative impact on wildlife in our area

We already know that we have a number of important, and in some cases endangered, species present in our local area.  We have a significant number of "spotters" signed up from our local community to look out for the most important of these and to record any sightings.  We won't publicise any nest, burrow, sett or specific locations to ensure that we aren't inadvertently putting our wildlife at risk.  We will, however, be in a position to challenge any wildlife surveys that the developer chooses to do, if they are not wide ranging or if they miss species that we know live within or close to the proposed development.    We are also actively reviewing new research on the implications that current solar farms in the UK have on wildlife.

The species that we are most interested in recording are  shown below.  We are also interested in all species of bats.  The Parish Council has already been undertaking a bat survey as part of the refurbishment of the Community Hall and we know that we have a number of species locally that hunt, feed and nest in the fields surrounding the village.

We also know, for example, that we have a local population of Great Crested Newts already present in Hilton, and that there are a series of "stepping stone" ponds and water courses for amphibians into our area.  Red kites are now a regular sight over our fields since they extended their range from the South around 5-8 years ago. 

We know that we have a number of wildlife havens within the proposed development area.  These includes ponds, mature hedge rows, older trees and grasslands.

Impact on the heritage, archaeology and setting of Barton Hall and its grounds

Barton Hall at Barton Blount is grade 2 listed, along with a number of its features.  The hall, and its setting in the landscape around, it is an important feature of the countryside to the North of Church Broughton.  Barton Hall is part of  a large Scheduled Monument area (in light blue in the image below).  It is strongly connected to Church Broughton as the churches in both locations (St Michael's and St Chad's) used to be served by the same vicar from about 1620 to around 1949.  The vicar used to walk between the churches on a connecting footpath that is no longer in use.  The relationship is well recorded in the diaries of Alfred Auden.  Wider village life and our recent history is chronicled more widely in Janet Arthur's "Church Broughton Parish - An Oral History 1900-1940".

A plaque in St Michael's church shows the names of vicars and rectors who were responsible for both St Michael's in Church Broughton and St Chad's at Barton Hall.

Impact on the heritage and setting of the Grade 1 listed St Michael and all Angels church

The Parish Church of St Michael and All Angels gives our village its name.  Parts of it date from around 1100 (including the font). It was much extended and rebuilt in the 14th century, probably around the time that Black Death devastated England.  It was lightly renovated in the 19th century.  In the heart of our village, it sits peacefully in its large churchyard, with lovely views to the rear over open fields. The churchyard is full of flowers in spring and early summer and contains war graves.   The fields on the left of the photograph above will be filled with solar panels if Castle Way Energy's proposal goes ahead.

Footpaths 12 (less visible as a light yellow "line" on the left hand side of this photograph) & 13 (very visible in the centre) approach St Michaels from the West.  This field will be covered in Solar panels if the proposal goes ahead and will signficantly impact the setting of the church as well as ruining both footpaths.

Wider heritage features across the proposed area

Derbyshire's Historic Environment Records (which can be viewed at https://her.derbyshire.gov.uk/map ) show the sites that Derbyshire County Council and English Heritage currently recognises in our area.  They are extensive when the area around Barton Hall is taken into account, as the map extract below shows.

There are, however, further important historical features across the proposed development area that we are drawing Engligh Heritage's attention to.

The picture below shows how close the solar panels will be to some of our historic features :

Increased surface water run-off and river flood risks

Many of the roads close to the village flood and have signficiant run-off from the surrounding fields during the winter months.  These include Ashbourne Road, Church Road, Cote Bottom Lane, Sapperton Lane, Tippers Lane, Sutton Road and Bent Lane.  It is difficult for water to leave our area as it cannot run South to the River Dove because of the Heath Top ridge.  It moves slowly East to Sutton Brook.  The Church Broughton school has closed on a number of days during recent winters when the risk of children becoming stranded has got too high.  There are times when local residents cannot use our roads to the West, East and South and concerns are growing about emergency vehicle access, given that access from the North is slow and winding.  A large number of solar panels on the fields near these access routes will increase run-off and flooding risk during high rainfall periods.  This is a major issue for us.

The following clip was taken in January 2026 on Church Road just to the West of Church Broughton.  Solar panels are proposed on the higher ground immediately on the right hand side (North) of this shot.  The area floods every winter on multiple occassions.

This short clip shows the flooding on Ashbourne Road in November 2023.  Solar panel will be very close to the East side of Ashbourne Road in a number of areas.

These pictures show deep flooding on Cote Bottom Lane to the South West of the village on 20th October 2023.

We know that local surface water flooding is already worse than some of the government's current surface water and flood maps for our area suggest.  The pictures and videos above help prove this.  

The most convincing map that shows forecast surface water run off risk (before any compaction of soils from solar panel construction, and the rain shielding and channelling that solar panels will create) is shown below.  It is available at Technical map - Check your long term flood risk - GOV.UK .  It shows just how extensive the problem for our area is becoming.

The current flood zone map shown below is also informative.  It demonstrates why the village and the school already get cut off when river levels rise.  Its important to remember, of course, that river flooding and surface water run-off combine to make problems even worse when the ground has become saturated and can no longer hold any more rainfall.   No map is currently available that combines both the flood and surface water run-off data.

High levels of industrialisation around Church Broughton and Barton Blount

Prior to the opening of the A50 and the industrial development of the old RAF Church Broughton airfield, the village's setting was very rural in nature.  Since Dove Valley Industrial Park has been created and Woodyard Lane to the South has seen a series of HGV transportation yards and similar businesses open, the area has been signficiantly changed and impacted by heavy vehicle movements.  If approved, the Solar Farm would create a very substantial ring of industrialisation around Church Broughton and Barton Blount (see the areas in red on the map below).

The site of the old RAF Church Broughton airfield in 2005, shortly after the A50 was opened (Google Earth).

The current extent of the Dove Valley Industrial Park development.  Development of this area is set to grow further   (Google Earth).

Increased road safety risks and the negative impact of construction traffics on our narrow roads

We know that our area is not well suited to the movement of large HGVs and other construction related traffic.  We already have problems with occasional "lost" Heavy Goods Vehicles that have missed the turning off the A50 for Dove Valley Park (DVP) and have strayed into our local lanes.   We also remember the period when construction traffic for the Aldi bottling plant on DVP was incorrectly using Woodyard Lane to access the site.  This caused notable problems until South Derbyshire District Council enforced "no use" of the Lane.  

The Parish Council has well established relationships with Derbyshire County Council's (DCC) Highways Department, which will be a consultee to this proposal if it progresses.  Its intervention and objection has ensured that a Planning application using Woodyard Lane was rejected on road safety grounds.  South Derbyshire District Council are also imposing transport restrictions on developments along Heath Top.  We will be pointing out all the problem areas on our roads given the very limited access into the proposed area, along Ashbourne Road and Longford Lane.  The Church Broughton Infants school sits in the middle of the transit area and it is inevitable that the risk to children travelling to and from school will be increased.  The map below shows some of the problem areas :

As a community we will be recording further information on these problem areas :

We will also be objecting if there are proposals for our local roads to be widened, straightened and made suitable for HGVs.  Here is an extract from Derbyshire Life that highlights what a visitor thought of our area :

Church Broughton, Derby, Author Unknown, 1st February 2010

Now that I have finally visited Church Broughton, the same could be said of the village itself, an archetypal idyll with a handsome ancient church, traditional local pub, reputable popular school, and several attractive centuries-old houses, all surrounded by lush, level green fields that seem to go on forever. Indeed, Church Broughton sits snugly in the midst of the vast rural triangle bounded by the River Dove and the roads linking Derby with Ashbourne and Uttoxeter.

Before I discovered the dull easy way to Church Broughton, just off the A50 Hilton to Hatton road, my computer router took me through the lovely, narrow, winding, hedge-rowed, Devonian lanes skirting Radbourne, Trusley and Sutton-on-the-Hill, the kind of perfectly preserved countryside that time blessedly forgot.

Insuffcient consideration of brown fields sites closer to Willington

Church Broughton is a long way from the Willington sub-station that is the proposed connection point for the solar farm.  Castle Way Energy do not appear to have considered more suitable sites, with shoter transmissions distances that are closer to Willington.  There are a number of identifiable brownfield locations that have not been proposed.