Liverpool Airport will press ahead with plans to build a solar energy farm that will provide a fifth of its power needs after winning a planning appeal. Tony McDonough reports
Liverpool John Lennon Airport (LJLA) will build a solar farm on a 13-acre site to the east of its runway after winning a planning appeal.
In 2022 the airport submitted a planning application to Halton Council to build the facility comprising 5,616 solar panels. Rising to heights to 2.7m the panels would provide around 2.5m kWHs of electricity each year – around a fifth of its current usage.
Earlier this year the council rejected the plans. Its notice of refusal said LJLA did not provide sufficient evidence to demonstrate that the site formed part of its operational land.
This prompted the airport to appeal the decision to a Government planning inspector who has now ruled in its favour, allowing the solar farm to go ahead.
A spokesperson for the airport said: “We are naturally delighted with the outcome of our application to appeal the decision previously made by the local planning authority to oppose our scheme. We will now look to progress this scheme as soon as possible.
“The airport is focused on sustainability and the solar farm is a huge part of our plans aiming to decarbonise our operation by 2040, bringing an estimated saving of around 20% of emissions per annum.
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“We will be launching these plans in the coming weeks and the solar farm will likewise be important for the city region’s own aspirations to meet its 2040 net zero carbon emissions target.”
The solar farm sits within the airport’s boundary, on land by the eastern end of the runway to the east of Dungeon Lane and south of Hale Road.