PLANS have been unveiled for a major solar panel farm on the outskirts of Consett - with developers hoping it will help attract new businesses and jobs to the area.

Project Genesis, the charitable trust charged with the redevelopment of the former steelworks, has submitted a planning application for more than 7,000 panels on a 30-acre site, between Hownsgill Industrial Estate and Templetown.

The proposed development on an agricultural field has drawn opposition from neighbouring residents, who say it will be blot on landscape.

But developers say a visual impact assessment carried out on their behalf has found it will not detract from the character of the area.

Mark Short, managing director of the Dysart Group, which helped form Project Genesis, said: “The is the first stage of a renewables project we are trying to bring forward on the Project Genesis site.

“The main focus at the moment is industrial development and job creation. We see renewable energy as a catalyst in attracting businesses – to give them a source of sustainable energy.

“The solar farm is on former derelict land and will support the industry base on the Hownsgill Industrial Estate.

“We are trying to bring forward the development of industrial units and offices on the estate and we are looking on it as a private wire source of renewable power to support these businesses."

In a written objection lodged on Durham County Council’s planning portal, resident Wendy Service of Templetown says: “We are fundamentally opposed to this planning application due to the visual impact it will have on the landscape and the volume of traffic it will generate in the construction and maintenance phases.

“It is in effect a major industrial development in Templetown and is not in keeping with the character of its surroundings.

She adds: “The proposal is so large that it would dominate the whole area and would be seen for miles.”

Mr Short said: “We have carried a visual scoping assessment as part of the planning application and, to be honest, the solar farm itself slopes south-west .

“The only visual impact wouldn’t be from residents in Consett, but from the A68 and agricultural land. We don’t think it is intrusive as far as residents are concerned.”