Solar Panels in Robertsbridge

Planning for solar in Rother

Rother District Council is the local planning authority for Battle, Bexhill, Robertsbridge and Ninfield.

The council lists solar panels among the works that are normally permitted development, so no planning application is needed. The rules are in Class A, Part 14, Schedule 2 of the General Permitted Development Order. Panels must not stick out more than 0.2 metres from the roof slope, must not sit higher than the highest part of the roof apart from the chimney, and must be placed so their effect on the building and the area is as small as possible. Class A does not apply at all if your home is listed.

Rother says permitted development may not apply if you are in the High Weald National Landscape, a conservation area or a Site of Special Scientific Interest, and that rights may have been removed by an earlier decision. Its general note that permitted development does not apply to flats is about householder rights; for solar, the order covers a block of flats as a whole, with its own limits. Its conservation areas include Battle, Bexhill Old Town, Bexhill Town Centre and Robertsbridge and Northbridge Street. 83% of the district is in the High Weald.

We confirm the position at survey and handle the submission.

If your home is in the High Weald National Landscape

The High Weald is a National Landscape, designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in 1983. It is not a planning authority. The High Weald team says responsibility for deciding planning applications stays with the fifteen local authorities the area covers, so your application still goes to Wealden or Rother.

Over 53% of Wealden District and 83% of Rother District are inside it. Both councils have adopted the High Weald Management Plan and both say it is a material consideration when they decide a planning application.

A National Landscape counts as article 2(3) land under the General Permitted Development Order. That matters in one specific way for solar: for a flat roof array you must first ask the council whether its prior approval is needed for how the panels will look, before work starts. Roof panels on a pitched roof are treated the same as anywhere else, within the usual Class A limits.

Rother also says permitted development may not apply in parts of the district inside the National Landscape, so it is worth checking.

We confirm the position at survey and handle the submission.