PLANS for a solar farm that could power 5,500 homes a year have been outlined to councillors. 

Representatives from developers Elgin Energy, Thirty47 and Stantec gave an overview of the plans for 110 acres of agricultural land, currently used for grazing, at Pentre Lane in Llantarnam to Cwmbran Community Council. 

Members of the council raised concerns about the amount of traffic on site and were told “there would be traffic between 9am and 5pm to deliver supplies to site”, however consultations have taken place with residents to look at the most preferred option for minimised disruption. 

Further questions were raised surrounding the landscape strategy for maintaining the fields.  

Fields will be maintained “through grazing and mowing” and “planting of native trees and shrubs”. 

The site will be demolished after 40 years, with “all solar panels removed from site”. 

There will be an additional community benefit package totalling £80,000 to be spent on local projects. 

Elgin Energy has run a pre-application community consultation on its plans through August to September 18 and due to the size of the proposal it is judged a development of national significance which will have to be assessed by Planning and Environment Decisions Wales before a Welsh Government minister makes a decision on whether it should go ahead or not.