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22
Aug
Historic Harrogate church challenges solar panel refusal
A historic church in Harrogate has appealed a council decision to refuse plans to fit solar panels to its roof.
The grade two listed Trinity Methodist Church, which is near The Oval and the Prince of Wales roundabout, applied to North Yorkshire Council to fit photovoltaic units on part of its slate roof to help meet its energy needs.
Other nearby churches, including Killinghall Methodist Chapel and New Park Chapel have already installed solar panels.
However, the council refused the decision in March on the grounds that the panels on the south end of the church would be “visually obtrusive, alien and modern interventions to principal architectural components of the listed building”.
It added:
The incongruous additions and alterations would result in harm to the heritage asset, fail to preserve the listed building, its setting and significance in a prominent position within the conservation area and erode its architectural and historic interest.
The council added that the harm caused by the panels was not “justified or outweighed by public benefit”.
Now, the church has taken the decision to the government’s Planning Inspectorate, which deals with planning disputes.
In a statement of case, it said the panels would be of public benefit as it would help to keep the church’s finances stable, in particular energy costs.
It said:
Installation of solar PV would save the church in the region of £3,500 per annum which would enable us to keep our rentals for community groups low and stabilise the church finances into the future, guarding against future sudden energy shocks and price rises.
It would also enable us to achieve our ambition of offering a year’s free accommodation to registered charities to help them get their work off the ground in Harrogate, or to increase the scope of their work in Harrogate.
A government planning inspector will make a decision on the appeal at a later date.
The Victorian Gothic church was built at the behest of some of the trustees of Wesley Chapel in central Harrogate, in a location chosen for its proximity to the large hotels that had opened to accommodate Harrogate's growing spa trade. It first opened for worship in 1879.
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