TWO brothers who have put forward a proposal for a solar park on their Hinton farm land will have to wait longer for a decision to be made after South Gloucestershire Council deferred a development control meeting due to receiving comments “worthy of consideration.”


Dennis Higgins, 53, and Victor Higgins, 55, are proposing the installation of a 5MW Solar PV Park on their farm land in a bid to guarantee the future of their cattle farm.


It would include inverters, CCTV, security fencing, soft landscaping, a new bridlepath, access routes, and ancillary works on 32 acres of their 300-acre Ring O’ Bells farm at Pucklechurch Road.


Dennis Higgins, who runs the farm, said: “We have a beef herd and the plan is to reduce the dairy herd and concentrate on beef and that’s where the solar park can help.


“Margins have got a bit tight and farmers need to diversify and we like the way the renewable energy company are thinking about ways to improve the solar park site.”


The proposed solar park could help power more than 1,250 homes and help reduce the nation’s carbon footprint by 2,150 tons.


The plan was set to be considered at a development control (east) planning committee on February 26 but was deferred by the council.


A South Gloucestershire Spokesman said: “The application was also deferred to a future committee meeting.


“Further comments on the application were received after the consultation deadline which were worthy of consideration, so officers recommended that the application was deferred so these comments could be taken in to account.”