Liverpool John Lennon Airport want to build a 5,000 panel solar farm

A massive solar farm with over 5,000 solar panels could be constructed if plans are given the go ahead.

Liverpool John Lennon Airport has applied for a lawful development certificate to install the huge energy site on more than 13 acres of land close to Hale Village.

If given the green light by Halton Borough Council, the solar farm would be built on land to the east end of the runway, east of Dungeon Lane and south of Hale Road.

Once operational, the solar farm would generate 2.6m kwh a year, almost a quarter of the airport’s entire annual energy needs. There would be 5,616 panels, each measuring 1.1m x 2.3m.

Once under way, the project would take between three and four months to complete.

A previous application for a solar farm was submitted then withdrawn in 2019, but because the airport has since extended its runway safety area with the inclusion of a perimeter fence, it now only has to be granted permitted development rights rather than apply for full planning permission.

A planning statement prepared for the airport by Pegasus Group, said: “In addition to reducing its imported electricity requirements, the airport also has ambitious sustainability targets to reduce the carbon footprint of its operations, generating electricity from clean, renewable sources forms part of that strategy.”