Plans for £1.35m solar farm in Failsworth given green light

The site will be built on a former landfill site at Wrigley Head in Failsworth [stock image]

Plans for a huge solar farm in Oldham have been approved by Oldham Council.

The site, to be built on a former landfill site at Wrigley Head in Failsworth, could reduce CO2 emissions by 50 tonnes each year and save money on energy bills

Following agreement last night, the Council will own and potentially fund the solar farm.

Savings could be made on Council energy bills as well as the farm generating a significant amount of renewable energy – contributing towards the authority achieving the carbon neutrality targets in the Green New Deal Strategy which forms part of the council’s “Creating a Better Place” plans.

Plans to install 2,700 solar panels on more than 3.5 acres of land was originally proposed in 2018, but were shelved during the Coronavirus pandemic.  However, the plans were revived amid the ongoing energy crisis.

Cllr Abdul Jabbar, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance and Low Carbon, said: “This is another exciting project that we’re delivering to enhance life for people living, working and visiting Oldham while doing what is best with our funds and the environment.

“We are already making huge headway with our Creating a Better Place programme, creating an Oldham where people will want to live, work, visit and socialise.

“We need more projects that give us power from renewable sources and saw it as vital to review Wrigley Head, which had been paused during the pandemic when energy prices dropped due to the lockdown on the economy.

“Energy prices are now much higher and are likely to stay high for the next few years at least, which means we can now return to looking at the scheme.

“We said that if the business case stacked up that we would go ahead and careful work has demonstrated that this will now help us reduce energy bills and carbon emissions alongside contributing to our carbon neutrality targets we have for Council buildings and street lights.

“At the same time, we will improve what was once an industrial landfill site and there will be wildflower planting, invasive species like Japanese knotweed will be removed and we will maintain access through the site for wild animals.”

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