Solar farm recommended for approval despite potential harm to farm shop and tea rooms

A report to the City of Doncaster Council’s planning committee revealed a “key issue” surrounding the proposed Marr Solar Farm is the economic impacts on the adjacent Marr Grange Farm Shop and Tea Rooms.

The solar farm would also cause a “short-to-medium term” harm to a neighbouring property, which would suffer from “glint and glare” from the panels until landscaping planting becomes “fully established”.

However, planning officials have recommended the plans be approved by the committee when it meets next week.

“Benefits to the scheme include the generation of renewable energy… required to meet the UK’s transition to net zero and the nation’s energy security needs, in accordance with the Council’s declared Climate Change and Biodiversity Emergency, delivery of significant on-site biodiversity net gain,” the report said.

The plans would also bring “direct and indirect benefits to the UK and local Doncaster economy” by creating jobs and supporting economic activity, according to the report.

Officers concluded: “Together, these benefits are considered, on balance, to clearly outweigh the harms identified so that very special circumstances exist to approve the development in this case, which is the test set out in the National Planning Policy Framework in cases where inappropriate development in the Green Belt is proposed.”

“The proposed solar farm will make a valuable contribution towards meeting Doncaster and the UK’s need for domestically generated renewable and low carbon energy, bringing ecological and socio-economic benefits to Doncaster”, the report finished.

Marr Solar Farm would cover 77 hectares of agricultural land, providing low carbon electricity to the national grid for 40 years – after which, the farm “would be decommissioned, and the land restored to its previous condition”.

In a statement sent to media in early December, Lee Adams, chief commercial officer for the solar farm developers, Enviromena, said: “Marr Solar Farm reflects our commitment to creating genuine, long-term value for the communities we work in.

“This is a significant opportunity for Doncaster. Once approved, the project will bring substantial financial investment to the area, reaching into the tens of millions, alongside long-term employment and community benefits.”

Following the publication of the planning committee agenda, shown to include Marr Solar Farm, South Yorkshire’s three Chambers of Commerce released a joint statement opposing solar farms on Green Belt land.

In a letter to the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, the Doncaster Chamber of Commerce, Barnsley & Rotherham Chamber of Commerce and Sheffield Chamber of Commerce called for a “fundamental shift in policy”.

“We therefore believe there is a significant opportunity for Government to strengthen incentives and planning guidance to prioritise solar deployment on rooftops and brownfield land wherever feasible, ensuring renewable energy expansion does not come at the expense of high-quality farmland,” the letter said.

The letter followed similar motions passed by both the City of Doncaster Council and Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council in November 2025, in which the authorities expressed their opposition to the plans for Whitestone Solar Farm.

Whitestone is proposed for three sites across Doncaster and Rotherham. Each MP local to the project – Sarah Champion MP, Jake Richards MP and John Healey MP – have expressed opposition to the plan.

Responding to the councils’ motions, a spokesperson for Whitestone Solar Farm said: “Whitestone Solar Farm is a proposed solar development that is still in early stages of development.

“We have just completed our statutory consultation, a six-week period during which we met with hundreds of local residents and received thousands of pieces of feedback.”

They said the project would include a “community benefit package” worth £300,000 a year for the local area.