A GISBURN field could be turned into a solar panel ‘farm’ after developers approached Ribble Valley Council.

Land to the north and south of Coal Pit Lane has been earmarked as a potential site for the erection of a solar photovoltaic (PV) development.

Leeds-based ADAS, the UK’s largest independent provider of environmental consultancy, said it expected a full planning application to be drawn up in the next two months.

Kenny Dhillon (CORRECT), the planning consultant for the project, said a full public consultation would follow in due course.

He described the scheme, which involves a number of free-standing panels generating carbon-free electricity, as ‘small-to-medium’ in size.

Mr Dhillon said: “We requested a screening opinion from the council to find out if we did submit a planning application, would we require an Environmental Impact Assessment; they said no.

“The plan is essentially a solar farm made up of solar panels. There are no buildings involved, just free-standing structures.

“We will submit a full planning application in the next couple of months. The number of panels is still to be decided. We are just the consultants on behalf of the applicant, who doesn’t want to be named publicly yet.

“We are specialists in renewable energy and we have chosen this area through a long-winded selection process. We only take on sites which have the lowest impact on residents.

“We have a good track record of choosing sites and working with communities. This is a small-to-medium scale project for us but there will be a full public consultation exercise. We want to talk to people.”