Proposals for one of the country’s largest solar farms have been given the thumbs-up from council planners, paving the way for a renewable energy solution that will provide all power for New Cross Hospital in Wolverhampton.

Wolverhampton Council and The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust are celebrating the decision by the development control committee to approve the plans for the ambitious green energy development.

Work will start later this year on the site at the former Bowman’s Harbour, with the solar farm eventually supplying 6.9MWp of energy directly to New Cross Hospital.

Recommending approval of the project, planning officer, Phillip Walker, said: “It would make an important contribution towards meeting a Wolverhampton-wide target of 2041 for the City to reach net-zero carbon.

“Although there would be some adverse impacts in terms of ecology, landscape, and visual quality, these can be acceptably mitigated and controlled by conditions, and any harm caused is outweighed by the benefits in respect of renewable energy production and the reversible nature of this development proposal.”