Representation by Sir Michael Stoute (Sir Michael Stoute)
- Date submitted
- 9 March 2022
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
I am objecting the proposal of destruction to 2,500 acres of beautiful farmland, home to hundreds of species of wildlife, with no benefit to the local community. This will completely ruin the landscape of the prestigious home of horseracing and devastate the environment. The scheme plans to destroy the picturesque landscape of the historic Newmarket gallops and this beautiful piece of countryside will be lost. There is no guarantee of the land returning to the agricultural use once the scheme ends. This is currently good quality irrigated vegetable growing farmland, providing a local source of food which we cannot afford to lose. When it becomes a ‘brownfield’ site at the end of the project, it could become a development site. We certainly don’t want that. Even if it is returned to farmland, after batteries and solar panels have covered it, how fertile will the soil be? Not only will there be no local employment benefit from the scheme but the profits wouldn’t even be put back into the UK. The only beneficiary will be the Spanish owners of Sunnica. There is a huge carbon footprint involved with shipping all the materials from around the world to set it up, so the idea of it being ‘green’ is ridiculous. This scheme would be far better suited to a sunnier climate for the solar panels to be most effective.