Campaigners against solar farm on Doncaster 'grey belt' worry for countryside protections
Campaigners opposed to plans for a solar farm in Doncaster have said the site should not lose green belt protections due to its recent reallocation as “grey belt”.
Plans for a solar farm on 77-acres of land off of Barnsley Road in Marr, Doncaster, were rejected by councillors on the City of Doncaster Council’s planning committee in December 2025.
Reasons for the refusal, which went against the recommendations of planning officers, included harm to the green belt.
When land is designated as green belt the benefits of building on the land must significantly outweigh the harms.
However, a recent High Court decision in a different, but similar case, has dealt a blow to the refusal, with the judgement providing more detail on how new national planning policy should be interpreted.
The judgement suggests the land in Marr should be considered “grey belt”, a new term introduced by the Labour Government for less valuable parts, or “poor quality and ugly areas”, of protected green belt, which can be built on.
Local campaigners, residents and councillors have now spoken out and demanded the introduction of the grey belt classification does not erode countryside protections which have stood for many years.
Shane Oxer, aged 63, a resident of Wath, not far from Marr, said solar farms should be on houses, warehouses and other buildings where they will not harm the countryside.
“It’s not just Marr. It will affect all future solar applications. It’s a big decision,” he told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).
He added: “The planning committee made the correct decision back in December.”
“Grey belt classification does not mean development is harmless.”
In a planning committee meeting on March 10, 2026, councillors agreed, reluctantly, to remove the ‘harm to the green belt’ reason from its refusal, as officers warned leaving it in could weaken the other defences they had chosen.
Doncaster Council may have to defend the decision to refuse planning permission as the developers of the Marr Solar Farm, Enviromena, said they intended to appeal to the planning inspectorate.
Mr Oxer said: “I will be helping out if they do appeal. I will be writing to the inspectorate.”
He said he hopes any appeal will be thrown out.
Councillor Rachel Reed represents Conisbrough ward for Reform UK, where residents are campaigning against an even larger solar project.
She said she was concerned about the impact “grey belt” land will have for countryside protections.
Cllr Reed said: “Simply re-labelling parts of it as ‘grey belt’ does not change the reality on the ground. The openness of the landscape, the character of the countryside and the loss of productive farmland are still serious planning issues that must be fully considered before any development is approved.”
Doncaster Council approved a motion regarding solar farms from Cllr Reed in mid-2025.
Her proposal, which received cross-party support, meant the council adopted the belief that solar farms should not be built on green belt land, and brownfield land, or buildings, should come first.
“Grey belt classification does not mean development is harmless. It simply alters one element of planning policy. The environmental and landscape impacts remain and must still be properly assessed,” Reed said.