A HUGE solar farm planned for the estate of wealthy MP Richard Drax was given the green light by councillors.

The application, which has garnered more than 500 objections, was almost turned down at the meeting of East Dorset District Council’s planning committee.

But after a heated debate, chairman Councillor Mike Dyer used his casting vote to approve the proposal.

More than 30 people falling on both sides of the debate visited the council officers in Furzehill to listen to the application.

Cllr Dyer said his decision was “one of the most difficult I have ever had to make”.

“I would have felt more comfortable if the site had been a little smaller but I didn’t believe its size was enough to warrant refusal,” he said.

“We have given temporary permission for 30 years and, unlike many developments where the environment disappears under concrete forever, there is a real prospect of this site being restored to its previous state. It’s undeniable that we need to move to carbon-free energy production.”

The farm will be built over a 175-acre site – around the size of 110 football pitches – which will take it the third largest of its kind in the UK.

It will cover arable land in the village of Almer.

Richard Nicholls, chair of Dorset’s branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), said he was disappointed with the decision.

“It went through on the chairman’s casting vote, but before that, we thought we might be in with a chance,” he said.

“Cllr Spencer Flower [leader of Dorset County Council] actually seconded it for refusal, but it just didn’t happen. It was very close.”

He called the plans “industrialisation of the countryside”, although said the CPRE backs renewable energy.

“It is a tremendous disappointment, but that’s the process and it’s time to move on now,” he added.