TWO community councils have joined the residents campaigning against the proposed solar power developments in Llanvapley to reject the application.

Camborne Energy Investments has submitted a planning application to Monmouthshire County Council in January of this year to install 42,000 solar panels and associated equipment on 67 acres of good agricultural land at Manor Farm, Llanvapley.

And as part of the consultation process both Llanarth Fawr and Grosmont Community Councils have decided to reject the application.

Monmouthshire County Council has since extended the period of consultation on this application until 12 April after significant changes were made to the original plans.

BYTH, the Beautiful Yet Threatened campaigners are objecting to the scheme on the basis of its location, the loss of agricultural land and the uncertain legacy of the project.

Les Taylor a spokesman for BYTH said that the group did not have a problem with solar farms in principle but objected to this scheme because of its size and visible location.

He added: "Additionally the original plan included details for a substation building but the new plans show a substation compound which is 19 times bigger than the original design.

"The new plan is not an accurate design for the substation compound but it does reflect the scale of the proposed development.

"The changes to the substation design will greatly affect the visual impact of the solar park in an otherwise unspoiled part of Monmouthshire."

"The solar farm will not benefit local people as the panels will be manufactured and installed by a company based outside the UK. No jobs will be created by this project and neither will any local workforce be used in its construction.

"It is believed that once the solar farm is up and running it will be sold on to an investment company to reap the financial rewards."