Solar panels set to be installed on top of Wakefield’s Sun Lane Leisure Centre

Wakefield Council plans to put the panels in place on top of Sun Lane Leisure Centre, according to documents submitted to the authority’s planning department.

The scheme involves fixing them to a pitched roof at the facility.

A planning application was required to be put forward due to the possibility of glare from the panels affecting people living or working close to the building.

Homes are located opposite the centre and on Upper Warrengate and St Clair Street.

But a planning officer’s report said prior approval for the scheme was not required.

It said: “As the site is set in built-up surroundings, those accessing the site on foot and those bypassing by car on either Sun Lane or Marsh Way/A61 are unlikely to even notice the panels given the shallow pitch of the section of roof to which they would be installed.

“It is not considered that the panels would be visible, nor lead to any detrimental glare.

“They would also have little to no impact on the overall scale and massing of the host building.”

The council declared a climate emergency in May 2019 and issued a pledge to become a carbon neutral authority by 2030.

It is hoped the whole of the district can achieve the same goal by 2038.