The plans were spread across two sites totalling 271 acres, one of which would have hosted the solar farm and another for a substation – with the sites connected via an underground cable.
Mr Mott suggested the substation site, north of Lynn Burn, should be deemed ‘grey belt’ – a new term introduced under the Labour government to identify lower quality green belt land where building can be permitted.
But the public benefits of the solar farm would be sufficient to justify its development regardless, he added.
Planning committee chair, Trevor Thorne, was among the supporters of the project.
He said Northumberland was “missing a big opportunity” by denying the application, especially given the land was previously used for opencast mining rather than being an area of countryside that had hitherto been unspoilt.
Berwick East independent councillor Georgina Hill moved for the refusal of the plans, however, saying: “It [the landscape] is just stunning and it would be so wrong to approve this.”
The committee voted by an 11 to four margin to reject the scheme, sparking applause from members of the public who had attended the Morpeth hearing to oppose the application.