Cambridge City Council has granted planning permission for the installation of solar panels on the roof of King’s College Chapel despite concerns that they might ‘compromise’ the building’s beauty.

The college plans to install 492 photovoltaic (PV) panels on the roof of the Grade 1 Listed building as part of its drive to reduce its carbon emissions.

A spokesperson for Cambridge City Council said that the planning committee had weighed up the historic importance of King’s College Chapel and the need to decarbonise the city’s buildings.

However, Historic England, the public body charged with looking after England's historic environment, said they were disappointed by the decision.

‘Historic England is disappointed by the decision of Cambridge City Council and the Diocese of Ely to grant permission for solar panels to be installed on the roof of King’s College Chapel, Cambridge,’ they said.

‘King’s College Chapel is one of England’s most exceptional buildings, listed at Grade I, and is an internationally significant landmark.

‘The installation of almost 500 solar panels on the chapel roof will compromise the beauty of the chapel, albeit to a modest degree.

‘We understand King’s College’s commitment to sustainability and its goal to achieve net zero by 2050, but we regret that this is to be done at some cost to the beauty of Cambridge’s finest building.’

Commenting on the decision, Cllr Martin Smart, the chair of the planning committee, said: ‘In terms of the application put to members, planning officers advised that the solar array would cause less than substantial harm. From the officer presentation it was clear that any possible views of the panels from the public domain would be limited.

‘With this in mind Planning Committee members considered that the public benefit gained by installing the panels outweighed this so called less than substantial harm and that on balance the public benefit was greater.

‘After a robust debate there was a unanimous vote by members to support the application. As Chair of Planning committee I am fully supportive of this decision and have no doubt that it was entirely the correct decision to make.’