A solar farm within the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty near Maiden Newton has been rejected by Dorset councillors.

They decided that despite it having the capacity to produce electricity for more than 4,700 homes, the Cruxton Farm site would dominate the landscape and have a negative effect on a section of the 200-mile long national Macmillan Trail.

The company behind the application, Enviromena, said although there had been a small number of objections most local people, including Maiden Newton parish council, had supported the plans to use two field to generate 11.8MW of power a year, over 40 years.

Planning officers, the Dorset Campaign to Protect Rural England, the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty team and Natural England all argued that the scheme would cause harm to the AoNB and that the developers had failed to make a case for why they could not build somewhere else.

AoNB officer Richard Brown said the elevated position in open land meant the panels would be seen as “an isolated and discordant man-made element in the attractive upland  landscape,” adding it would have a “significant impact” on the un-interrupted panoramic views, tranquillity and undeveloped rural character.

He said there was no compelling reason why the solar development had to be where the company wanted.

Cllr Sherry Jespersen said there were thousands of acres elsewhere in Dorset to build a solar farm where it would not dominate the landscape, or event affect the AoNB.

She was also unhappy about the company’s plans for hedging either side of the Macmillan Way over a length of three quarters of a mile. She said the effect would be walkers feeling as if they were in a tunnel rather than wide open landscapes.

“The harm to the AoNB and the Macmillan Way would be substantial…we are all aware of the need for sustainable electricity, but we also need to be aware of our responsibility to look after our AoNB. If we let it get chipped away, it’s gone forever,” she said.

Bridport Green councillor Kelvin Clayton said he would support the application, siding with the parish council: “Much of this decision is subjective and I thought the impact was negligible,” a view shared by Cllr Alex Brenton (Purbeck Lib Dem), although she said she did share the concerns about the impact on the Macmillan Trail which runs from Lincolnshire to the coast at Abbotsbury.

Said Cllr Jean Dunseith (Con, Chickerell)  “I don’t think this would destroy the AoNB, but it might not be the best thing to happen to it.”

Mark Harding, agent for Enviromena, said the company said the hedge  planting, bat, bee and bird boxes, together and other landscaping measures would result in a net gain for biodiversity in the area.

“We have a clear commitment to leave places we touch in a better condition than when we arrived,” he said, arguing that the visual impact of the site would be acceptable and any harm would be outweighed by the public benefits in both the local and national interest."