Representation by William Field
- Date submitted
- 14 March 2022
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
I am a supporter of green energy, however I am vehemently opposed to Sunnica’s Solar Power Plant and Battery Storage Systems (BESS) scheme. This scheme is categorically too big for the landscape within which it is proposed. 2500 acres of highly productive agricultural land would be permanently lost under millions of solar panels and 77 acres of Battery Storage Systems, it is totally unacceptable. We currently import 40% of our food, loosing swathes of agricultural land to solar schemes, compounded by housing developments, will without doubt drive the UK to be reliant on importing even more. Sunnica claim this land is of poor quality simply because it is not grade 1 or 2. What they fail to understand is that the millions of tons of root vegetables that are currently grown on this land will not grow in grades 1 & 2 soil. This highly valued mostly level landscape has remained unchanged for many years, this scheme would decimate both the views and access to the countryside that are enjoyed by the residents, visitors and tourists. Sunnica say they will “mitigate the views” by hedge planting. A view cannot be mitigated, only lost. They have stated that the planting will take 15 years of growth to screen the panels, in the areas they choose to plant. Sunnica have failed to demonstrate that they have looked at alternative sites or locations. There is no evidence of them even considering brownfield sites. This scheme would be the largest in Europe (500MW) and located around numerous villages and towns (collective population of 40,000) with the three massive BESS’s also being in very close proximity to populated areas, including schools. BESS’s of this size have never before been approved close to populated areas. Of course, this would not be an issue if these battery storage systems were completely safe, however they are notorious for catching fire, exploding and releasing toxic fumes. This is not a green scheme, the millions of panels are incapable of fully utilising (charging) the massive BESS’s, this scheme is purely about energy trading, buying and storing at low rate and selling back at peak rate. Sunnica call this is “balancing the grid”. Sunnica have made claims of enhanced biodiversity gains and mitigation enhancement, however they have failed to provide any evidence of this dubious claim. If 2500 acres of prime farmland is covered in glass, steel, concrete and batteries it will turn the land beneath into a desert landscape, impossible to return to farming in 40 years’ time (as claimed by Sunnica), at the end of the predicted lifespan of this scheme. I further doubt this scheme will last 40 years as new, more efficient technologies already being developed, will make solar generation even more uneconomical than it currently is. There needs to be a ‘impact/cost’ verses ‘benefit’ investigation and subsequent Government Policy regarding the change of use of farmland from food production to electricity generation. Solar PV is not just the LEAST EFFICIENT generator, it is the MOST WASTEFUL.