A solar farm the size of 58 football pitches will be built on farmland.

Councillors said the need for clean energy and biodiversity was more important than the appearance of the landscape for the scheme on the edge of Thanet.

Planning committee members defied recommendations from Thanet District Council planning officers, who warned the development planned for land near Hengrove Farm off Shottendane Road near Margate would significantly harm aspects of the environment, including habitats for skylarks.

Labour councillors said while it was a shame the site would be ugly, the environmental benefits of the project were more important.

“So it’s not pretty, but I actually don’t think we have the luxury at the moment,” said Cllr Kristian Bright (Lab, Viking).

“I was reading an article the other day that said we are going to rocket past 2.5 degrees so we need clean energy.

“The biodiversity gain of 255% is a massive win for me. The fact that there’s going to be woodland and hedgerow it won’t just benefit birds, it will also mean there’ll be more insect life.

“We’re going to just have to get used to them on our landscape, they didn’t have pylons 100 years ago and they got used to that.”

Green energy company Industria says the site would generate 30 MW (Megawatts) of renewable electricity annually on two parcels of land between Garlinge and Manston.

That would be enough to meet the needs of about 9,458 homes every year and save approximately 6,114 tonnes of carbon emissions annually.

The site would be located within the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and include a substation, parts workshop, security measures, and associated landscaping.

The bid attracted little public opposition and has the support of Manston Parish Council, but a report by the council’s planning boss Helen Johnson urged councillors to reject it.

Ms Johnson says the development's 40-year lifespan was not substantial enough to compensate for the damage and stressed wildlife concerns.

“The environmental harm arising from the significant visual impact outweighs the environmental climate change benefits from the provision of renewable energy generation and other benefits,” wrote the officer.

“The identified harm cannot be mitigated without resulting in a fundamental change to the landscape character of the area.

“As it stands, the application should be refused on the lack of skylark mitigation as this has not yet been adequately secured through a legal agreement.”

But in the meeting on Wednesday, Cllr Joanne Bright (Lab, Beacon Road) said addressing the climate emergency must be the local authority’s top concern in this matter.

“Thanet District Council declared a climate and biodiversity in 2019 so for me, that means this is exactly what we need,” she said.

“We need clean energy and the fact that there’s 255% bio net-gain for habitat, I just think we can’t be refusing that. We need clean energy, there’s an emergency.

“Yes it’s ugly, but people think the wind turbines on the horizon are ugly, and we need energy.”

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Councillors voted to approve the application, subject to safeguarding conditions and the submission or agreement of a unilateral understanding to secure skylarking mitigation.