A MAJOR solar panel farm could be built on the former Consett Steelworks site, after councillors backed the plans today (Tuesday, March 1).

Project Genesis, the charitable trust charged with the redevelopment of the former steelworks, applied for planning permission for more than 7,000 panels on a 30-acre site between Hownsgill Industrial Estate and Templetown last autumn.

Today (Tuesday, March 1), Durham County Council’s county planning committee unanimously backed the proposals.

There was some opposition from local residents, who said the solar farm would be a blot on the landscape, but no statutory objections were forthcoming.

Proposing the scheme be granted permission, Councillor Alan Shield said: “It looks very panoramic there but this is the redundant Consett Steelworks site.”

The solar farm will generate five megawatts, enough to power 1,364 homes, and be connected to the national grid.

Grazing sheep will be able to wander between the rows of five metre square panels, which will be at least 80cm off the ground and reach 2m into the air.

Previously, Mark Short, managing director of the Dysart Group, which helped form Project Genesis, said the solar farm was the first stage of a wider renewable energy project for the site.