A PLAN for a solar farm to be installed on agricultural land north of the M4, on the outskirts of Newport, is being recommended to get the go-ahead.

Newport council's planning committee is being advised by city planners to grant permission for the 21-acre scheme, on land west of Cefn Llogell Farm, Coedkernew.

Three agricultural fields at the farm are being proposed to house the solar panels required for the project, which will have a total output of 3.8MW (megawatts). That is sufficient to power around 1,150 homes.

The council's planning committee will meet on Wednesday, October 7, to discuss the proposal, which is set to have a 25-year operational lifespan.

Access to the proposed site would be from Blacksmith Way, which is off the A48 at Coedkernew.

Despite council experts, Gwent Wildlife Trust, Natural Resources Wales and other bodies offering no objection to the proposal, subject to a range of conditions, it is being opposed by Keep Us Rural, a pressure group formed in nearby Michaelston-y-Fedw in response to what its members feel to be the use of "perfectly good farming land" for green energy projects such as solar farms or wind turbines.

The group believes such projects blight the landscape, and reduce the ability to produce food on such land when there are ample brownfield sites available.

Keep Us Rural is arguing that more than 80 per cent of the Cefn Llogell site is on agricultural land classified as grade 3a which is thus of a higher quality and should therefore be protected from development.

It also claims that tests that have ruled out nearby brownfield sites for such a project were inadequate, with poor reasons being given for dismissing these sites.

"The report (on these tests and sites) appears to be designed to justify the use of open countryside rather than truly looking for brownfield alternatives," states Keep Us Rural in its consultation response document.

The council's report on the proposal however, describes seven sites as having been analysed as potential alternatives for the project, including land at Duffryn, Maesglas, Llanwern Steelworks, and the former Whiteheads Steelworks site in Newport.

None however, were considered viable, for a variety of reasons including that some are now earmarked for housing.

It also states that analysis concluded there were no sites of lower grade agricultural land available for the project in the area.