Derbyshire Times news bulletin with editor Phil Bramley
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00:00 Here's today's Derbyshire Times video bulletin.
00:03 A cash-strapped Derbyshire Council has submitted plans to build a £3.75 million solar farm next to a nature reserve.
00:11 Derbyshire County Council, which has a budget shortfall this year of £40 million,
00:16 is looking to build a 25-acre solar farm next to the Williamthorpe Nature Reserve off Mansfield Road between Chesterfield and Bowlesover.
00:24 The plan would see 14,000 solar panels installed on two agricultural fields, historically a former colliery site,
00:31 to the east of the nature reserve, between Homewood and the A617.
00:35 A decision will be made by the County Council itself in the next few months.
00:39 The authority, which has had to impose a hiring freeze and a block on all non-essential spending since September,
00:45 is set to spend £3.75 million on the solar farm.
00:49 To date, it has spent £31,000, the Council detailed earlier this month.
00:53 The scheme was delayed by six months due to the Council's review of funding allocations and project approvals.
00:59 It had aimed to have the project built by April 2025 and says it hopes to have planning permission by June this year.
01:06 The Williamthorpe site, a former reclaimed colliery, is the only plot out of a potential 15 sites identified by Council consultants in 2022,
01:15 which has a historic planning approval dating back to Spike Council plans in 2015.
01:21 Derbyshire Marketing Agency Purpose Media is supporting a charity which transforms the lives of thousands of disabled and disadvantaged young people.
01:31 Variety, the children's charity, has raised more than £300 million since it was established in 1949,
01:39 providing assistance through wheelchair and specialist equipment grants, experiences on their Variety Great Days Out,
01:45 accessible transport for schools in the form of their famous Sunshine Coasters, and work experience in their Access Intern programme.
01:52 Now, Digital Marketing Agency Purpose Media, which is based in South Normanton, has teamed up with the charity as a media partner,
01:59 helping it deliver two high-profile events aimed at raising significant funding to further the organisation's work.
02:06 The agency will provide video services for the Midlands Props Awards in Birmingham next month and the North West Props Awards in Manchester in October.