Solar panel complainer now 'supporter of plan'
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- Len Shephard has applied to install 72 solar panels behind his house in St Sampson, Guernsey, claiming the array could power five households and save 505 trees annually.
- Chris Chadwick, who initially objected because the site is classified as greenfield, told Shephard he was won over after reviewing the application details together and is now a "complete supporter of the plan."
- Shephard said the panels are "fully demountable" so the site could be restored in the future, and that the field has been unusable for 45 years due to buried greenhouse materials left behind from previous greenhousing.
- Chadwick attributed his initial complaint to "little detail" on the planning website, saying he saw the application at the end of its notification period when the supporting data was no longer available.
- Chadwick said the panels are elevated off the ground so grass and wildlife retain access to sunlight, and called the project "altruistic, not commercial" since Shephard "probably won't see financial return" in his lifetime.
- Guernsey planning officials are still considering the application, which has just had a site assessment completed according to the States' planning website.
Why it matters: For Guernsey's planning system, the case shows how a greenfield designation can block renewable projects on land that has been functionally unusable for 45 years, and how a brief in-person meeting — not a formal planning process — flipped a complainant from objector to supporter, raising questions about whether notification windows and online detail are enough to surface real objections.
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