04.02.20
Oldham Council announces plans for solar farm
Oldham Council has announced plans to build a 900kw solar farm in Failsworth.
The new solar farm would compliment their already existing 120kw rooftop panels already operating on Tommyfield Market.
Oldham Council has plans to make itself the greenest borough in Greater Manchester and also has ambitions to make itself carbon neutral within the next 5 years, it is hoped that by investing in renewable energy, these ambitions will be realised.
The farm would be built on the disused former Ferranti football fields at Wrigley Head.
The council expects to submit an application for planning permission by the end of the month, with the expectation that should the application be accepted, the work will start on the farm next year.
Deputy Leader of Oldham Council, Councillor Abdul Jabbar, said:
“Over the last ten years the council has been forced to make millions of pounds in savings, so we need to come up with imaginative and economically sound ideas which benefit the borough and its people but don’t rely on traditional energy sources.”
The plans are in line with the government’s plans for the nation to be carbon neutral by 2050, with individual councils making themselves more responsible carbon neutrality will be easier to achieve.
Abdul Jabbar continued:
“We want to lead the way as a 'green' council and that’s why we’ve become the first local authority in the UK to announce our intention to be a Green New Deal Council.”