Representation by Alice Keutgen
- Date submitted
- 12 March 2022
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
While I am pro-green energy, I object to the Sunnica scheme on the following grounds: - It disturbs me that university analysis of said scheme has shown that it will generate more carbon in its lifetime than it will save, so it cannot be classed as 'green' and will consequently hinder rather than advance the nation's pursuit of net zero by 2050 The negatives of the scheme further outweigh the positives: - At a time when we need more than ever to develop food self-sufficiency as a nation, the scheme will wipe out 2,500 acres of greenfield agricultural land, much of it prime vegetable-growing farmland. Currently, the UK is only 64% self-sufficient in food, a percentage which swiftly needs to rise, especially now in light of the Ukraine crisis - At a time when the environment and biodiversity urgently need bolstering, the scheme will cover a swathe of countryside in more than 1,000,000 China-imported solar panels, 100 acres of concrete and 30 miles of security fencing, to the detriment of plants and wildlife; I've heard it asserted that hares, which are already struggling to survive due to habitat loss, will create their forms between panels and live happily on the solar farm, but that stretches belief to breaking point - Said countryside will be lost for an estimated two generations. There is no guarantee it will be returned to agricultural use at the end of the solar park's 40-year lifespan - and indeed there is doubt about who will dismantle and dispose of the panels, how and when. The scheme will be classed a brownfield site after the project ends, making it likely to be used for development rather than farming or rewilding - The number, scale, proximity to dwellings and substantiated risk of fire - which results in the emittance of toxic gasses, lethal in even tiny volumes - that the battery energy storage sites pose is hugely concerning. With an output of 500 MW, the Sunnica BESS would be the largest to date in the world and Sunnica has no experience of building BESS on this scale - The scheme is not going to support the local economy: the site will be constructed by a Yorkshire company, Smith Brothers Ltd, and will profit Sunnica's Spanish owners - Our village being encircled by the solar park will have a genuine negative impact on our quality of life. I work from home and dread the constant soundtrack of lorries thundering past the house during the construction phase, along with the air pollution that traffic will bring; it will cloak a huge area of the countryside we love to live in and walk through; plus it will affect our property's price Also: - Much better clean and green energy technologies are available. Take the UK's world-leading company Ceres, which is currently collaborating with major brands such as Bosch in Germany to install steel-cell electro-chemical generators capable of producing clean energy at scale and speed. The production process is sustainable and supports the UK economy - as opposed to requiring solar panels to be made and imported from China, a process which, in and of itself, creates a massive carbon footprint - as outlined here: [redacted]