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A solar farm has been approved for green belt land near a village in Derbyshire, despite concerns about the loss of countryside.

North East Derbyshire District Council's planning committee approved Ethical Power Development Limited's planning application for land south of Green Acres, off Langer Lane in Wingerworth, during a meeting on Tuesday.

It said "very special circumstances" outweighed any potential harm to the countryside, adding noise and increased traffic would be temporary and not be detrimental enough to warrant refusal.

Wingerworth Parish Council had objected to the application over concerns about the impact on the environment and nearby homes.

'Too near houses'

The scheme involves a 7.5 megawatt solar array with panels no taller than 3m (10ft) on seven hectares of agricultural land, creating clean energy for 2,760 properties.

As many as 18 residents submitted 21 representations to the district council objecting to the scheme, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Debbie Ping, who spoke during the planning meeting on behalf of her mother, said: "This development, I believe, should be on a brownfield site.

"It's far too near houses, and it will give an industrial look to the space between Wingerworth and part of Langer Lane, which is the Chesterfield borough part.

"The green belt really should be an absolute last resort, and I do not believe in this case that it is appropriate."

The Campaign for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE) objected on the grounds it would be an inappropriate use of green belt land, while Chesterfield Borough Council also raised concerns over the visual impact and its contribution to the country's energy needs.

However, the district council's environmental health officer, the Environment Agency and Derbyshire County Council all raised no objections.

The planning committee voted by six councillors to three, with one abstention, to approve planning permission, with conditions, including a land contamination assessment, a site investigation to establish any risks from any mining legacy, restricted construction times and that the land be restored after 40 years.

An Ethical Power Development spokesperson said the company was "proud and excited to bring forward this solar proposal".

They added: "As well as producing clean energy, the project combats the ecological crisis by exceeding the biodiversity net gain policy with uplifts of 107% hedgerow, 68% habitat and 10% watercourse units."

A history centre that is under construction will "attract new audiences" to Crewe and be part of the town's ongoing regeneration, a council has said.

Two new sites in Chester and Crewe are set to open next summer, as the county's archives relocate to purpose-built sites.

Cheshire East Council's deputy leader said the new building was going to be "stuffed with stories" about families and the region.

He added it was part of the town's ongoing regeneration as the authority wanted to "make Crewe fit for the 21st Century".

Cheshire Archives is a shared service between Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester, Halton, and Warrington councils.

The archives have been based in Chester, but are now being divided between the two new sites.

Michael Gorman, the deputy leader of Cheshire East Council, told BBC Radio Stoke there was a "real appetite" for local history in the area.

"Think of the success of programmes like Who Do You Think You Are?

"People love stories, they love stories about their family, stories about their town, city, region and this building is going to be stuffed with stories."

'A lot of ambition'

But he added that it was also one of a number of regeneration projects in Crewe including the development of a new youth centre and a "meanwhile use" for a site that had been earmarked for a leisure development but was scaled back in recent years.

"There's a lot going on in Crewe, there's a lot of regeneration projects," said Mr Gorman.

"Our aim is to make Crewe fit for the 21st Century.

"We're talking to the government about really developing Crewe as a new small city by the year 2050, so we've got a lot of ambition and we've got developers that we're talking to and we want those developers and those investors to match our ambitions for Crewe."

A project to demolish a former GP surgery in Leicester and build homes in its place has been approved.

The Saffron Lane scheme has been given the go ahead despite three applications being refused by the city council since 2021.

The approved plans are for two three-bed semi-detached houses at the front of the site and a two-storey block featuring four one-bed flats.

The last application was rejected by Leicester City Council in December 2023, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) said.

The reasons for refusal included the design of the building, living standards for future residents, a lack of storage space in one of the homes, poor outdoor communal space and issues of privacy for the future occupants.

The majority of the concerns related to flat block A, which would have been at the front of the site.

Developer APKA removed that building from its plans in the most recent submission in August last year.

Planning officers have now deemed the scheme to be acceptable, adding it is for "residential use in a residential part of the city", the LDRS said.

It added the GP surgery had been closed "for a long time" so there would be "no loss" to the community from its demolition.

Water quality monitors near England's largest lake which were deemed ineffective by campaigners have now been moved.

The Environment Agency (EA) installed the monitors at Cunsey Beck, which feeds into Windermere in the Lake District, after a fish kill in June 2022 in which "100% of life" within the river was suspected to have died.

Earlier this year, Save Windermere campaigners claimed a test using non-toxic dye showed the equipment was wrongly placed and could not pick up flow coming from a nearby sewage pipe.

The EA said at the time it was "confident" the monitors had been placed correctly but last week it moved the equipment to where the campaigners had said would work better.

The monitors, known as sondes, are placed upstream and downstream of Near Sawrey Wastewater Treatment Works – managed by United Utilities – which discharges into Cunsey Beck.

Matt Staniek, a founder of Save Windermere, told the BBC in January that the group had placed fluorescent dye where sewage entered the beck and observed the dyed water not passing the sonde.

"This means any sewage spills from Near Sawrey – a prime suspect in the fish kill and the main cause for concern on Cunsey Beck – would go undetected by the EA's monitor," he added.

The EA said at the time more information on how and when Save Windermere's test was carried out would be needed to determine its relevance.

It has now confirmed it reviewed the position of the sonde and had since moved it to the other side of the river just as Save Windermere had recommended, adding that it "welcomed" feedback.

It also said it had carried out its own dye test, which suggested this new position captured flow from the outfall effectively.

"This is yet another clear example of how Save Windermere is driving real, on-the-ground change," said Mr Staniek.

"It also raises serious questions about the reliability of historical data collected in the area."