Representation by Patricia Ivy Judd
- Date submitted
- 15 March 2022
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
I, strongly object to Sunnica's plan to turn five Suffolk villages into a solar battery farm, due to the current situation in Ukraine and Russia it demonstrates our dependence on other countries for our food. Sunnica failed to answer any questions put to them. They could not, would not respond to any questions regarding the fire risks, which are considerable and given the lithium battery units are sited in residential areas, the largest being in Red Lodge, close to schools, nurseries and livestock. There are no reference to evacuation plans, risks from toxic fumes or from where and how emergency vehicles could access the sites. How long before this solar farm becomes a battery farm? It has been suggested that the solar panels do not provide sufficient output for the national grid. The construction of this proposal of this proposed development will plunge the residents of the local villages into 2 years of life living on a virtual building site. Roads dug up to lay cables and lanes widened to enable large vehicles access. Emergency vehicles will have to make allowances in the time it take to attend patients. Public transport and deliveries will also be effected. Our arable farmland, which produces cereal and root crops and pig farms will be used, at a time we most need it. How can Sunnica boast about their care of the planet when they rely on the Uyghur people in China who are mining lithium for the batteries and the materials used in the manufacture of our solar panels and battery farms? What of their human rights? What of the carbon foot print? Our wildlife will suffer from the smallest creature to the largest. Birds like Skylarks and others who prefer nesting in open fields will disappear from our countryside. This whole scheme has little to do do with saving the planet but more to do with money for Sunnica and the sale of electricity to the highest bidder and at the cost of the residents of the 5 villages.