A 35-ACRE solar farm planned near Llanmartin involving more than 28,000 solar panels could get the go ahead next week.

Roger Lewis, of Court Farm, Magor Road, Newport, has applied for planning permission to build a 35 acre solar farm on agricultural land north west of the Newport village.

However the Langstone Community Council has objected, claiming it would be a blot on the landscape.

Officers have recommended the plans for approval, but the decision is up to Newport council planning committee which is meeting on Wednesday.

It is claimed by the applicant that the solar farm could supply 1,650 homes with electricity, generating an estimated 8,100 megawatts per year.

The site would be comprised of around 28,460 solar panels and would run for 25 years – at which point it would be decommissioned.

Agents acting for the applicant claim that the amount of carbon dioxide saved annually from the solar farm could come to 3,807 tonnes each year.

According to planning documents, Langstone Community Council claimed that the development would be a blot on the landscape and would spoil views from houses and footpaths in the area.

Liaison between the developer and the community council has been patchy, the community council has told Newport planning officials.

Objections had been received from neighbours, with the authority receiving seven representations arguing that glare from the solar farm would be detrimental and that the proposal isn’t adequately screened, among other issues.

In recommending plans for approval, officers said that overall the proposal was considered acceptable.

“The changes to the landscape and visual amenity of observers is not considered to be unacceptably harmful unto itself,” a report to planning committee by officers says.

“The development will deliver the clear benefit of low carbon electricity generation which outweighs the limited visual harm of the proposal.

“In highway terms the development is acceptable and the protected trees on the site can be preserved.”