Representation by Rachel Hood
- Date submitted
- 11 March 2022
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
I object to this proposal without reservation but including the following grounds: 1. Size: This project is far too big. Monstrously, damagingly big. 21115+ football pitches big. 2. Greenfield: It is situated on greenfield land. These projects need to be on brownfield land. 3. Loss of good agricultural land: We need to grow our own food in the UK but this will take up 2800 acres of land which grows food. There will be a huge damaging carbon footprint from flying in replacement food from abroad. 4. There must be a bond to clean up and restore the land (if permission is granted) as otherwise the panels will damage this immense area of prime farmland in perpetuity. No bond is proposed. 5. Limekilns Gallops: This proposal will irretrievably damage and cause significant detrimental impact and harm to this unique, historic view. Newmarket is the international historic home of horseracing, attracting countless tourists, visitors and horse racing industry (HRI) personnel to these unspoilt gallops. The solar panels proposed will blight this area and must not be allowed. 6. Traffic: Newmarket has a terrible and recognised traffic problem and is frequently gridlocked, damaging the reputation of this historic town. The construction traffic required for this proposal will cause further gridlock and traffic and must not be allowed. It will blight the area. 7. Period of Scheme: The solar panels will be obsolete in 8 years (maybe less) and will need replacing. So, there will be continuous excess and additional traffic through Newmarket and its environment to replace the panels – all of which also adds to the carbon footprint which is immense and not “green” at all. 8. Batteries: These are dangerous and they should not be located near residents, let alone a school. 9. Visual Impact: The visual impact has been understated and the solar panels and battery storage will be visible and blight rural Suffolk. 10. Heritage Assets: Newmarket; The Icknield Way; and other heritage assets will be harmed by this massive, grotesque proposal. 11. The solar panels are made in China, probably by Uighur slave labour, then shipped or flown to the UK. This is against every British principle and contributes to the immense carbon foot print of this unacceptable scheme. 12. Fire: Any fire in the batteries will cause carcinogenic fumes to fill the air; the water used to cool the fire will pour into the water table causing damage to ecology and poison the water table with chemicals. It is extraordinarily difficult to put out these fires. 13. Rural community: This is a rural community which should not be blighted by this worthless industrial scheme, whose carbon footprint is enormous and not at all helpful to the environment. 14. Ecology: The window dressing about this is laughable. Our ecology will be damaged and the idea that there will be a net gain is not true.