COUNCILLORS in Blaenau Gwent have expressed disappointment over a Welsh Government decision to approve plans for a solar park.

A planning inspector, Blaenau Gwent council, Tredegar Town Council and Cadw had said the proposed park at Wauntysswg Farm near Tredegar should be rejected over its impact on the landscape and the Tredegar Ironworks Cholera Cemetery.

The only known cholera cemetery in Wales is located around 400 metres north of the site.

But the Welsh Government’s minister for housing and local government, Julie James, approved the application.

In her decision letter, Ms James concluded the “significant” renewable energy benefits outweighed the concerns raised.

Councillors on Blaenau Gwent council’s planning committee expressed disappointment over the decision at a meeting on Thursday.

Cllr Mandy Moore suggested the committee sent a letter “expressing our dissatisfaction” over the decision.

Cllr Moore said: “Everybody was objecting to it, it was not just Blaenau Gwent council, it was the people of Tredegar, and it has been ignored.”

Cllr Bernard Willis also voiced disappointment over the decision.

Steve Smith, Blaenau Gwent’s service manager for development, said officers could offer their interpretation of planning law in the letter.

A report by planning inspector Melissa Hall said the impact on the cemetery would be “negative” – and also raised concern over the visual effect of the solar park.

Ms Hall concluded the benefits of the proposal – helping to meet carbon and renewable targets – would not outweigh harm caused to the landscape.

Although the park would only be in place for 30 years, Ms Hall said: “This time period represents a generation, during the lifetime of which, the harm to the character and appearance of the area and to the setting of a heritage asset would subsist.”

But Ms James insisted any impact on the landscape would be “temporary and fully reversible.”

Ms James concluded the “significant benefits” of the proposal, by generating 30MW of electricity per year from a renewable source, outweighed any impact on the landscape or setting of the ancient monument.

The application was decided by a Welsh minister due to being designated as a Development of National Significance.

Blaenau Gwent council’s planning committee agreed to send a letter to the Welsh Government over the decision.