Representation by Peter Maxwell
- Date submitted
- 17 March 2022
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
I oppose the Sunnica Industrial Solar Development in the strongest possible terms. I live in the countryside, and value the environment, in particular the Limekilns where I can walk and have uninterrupted views across to Ely, which won’t be possible if solar and batteries are installed to spoil this historic vista The same will apply to the Snailwell dog walk, where solar panels will intrude upon the enjoyment of historic fields. It will adversely affect the Chippenham Fen Nature Reserve, home to many rare species, including one plant found nowhere else. As the Minister for Levelling up says, “Beauty is at the heart of any planning process”. And the ruination of nearly 3000 acres of countryside with massive solar panels and concentration camp-style fencing surrounding the whole plant goes against that. Sunnica proposes 77 acres of toxic batteries but ignores the significant danger to the local population, and the valuable bloodstock industry, should any one of the batteries catch fire. It is well established that these fires exhibit thermal run-away and cannot be extinguished. They have no risk assessment, and no public liability insurance to pay for mass evacuation and subsequent reparation (c 30,000 people within 7 sq km). These batteries will likely only hold up to 5 minutes of supply to the Grid, with significant wastage given the distance from the substation. So will be largely ineffective and do not justify the disproportionately high risk. Sunnica has clearly underestimated the quality of the agricultural land, but it is common knowledge that the land in the area is valuable productive farming land. With food security being paramount, it would be wrong to turn it into a brownfield industrial site. Sunnica has no plans for decommissioning at the end of the useful life, and no bond is forthcoming. (c £140 million) Sunnica and its Spanish backers are insufficiently capitalised to build a plant of this size. They claim a net worth of Eu 100 million, but this project is at least 6 times the size. There will be significant leveraging and concomitant big risk of non-completion. Most of the solar-grade polysilicon and ancillary equipment emanates from the Uyghur Region in China, where slave labour is used. Any procurement from there will be in contravention of the Modern Slavery Act of 2015. Sunnica claims that its industrial plant will be carbon neutral. It won’t be. The carbon usage in importing components and the construction will be so high, as to make it unlikely for it to ever happen. It will not contribute to the net-zero target. This is based upon research undertaken by a respected English University. Conversely, productive arable farmland is highly carbon-efficient and is a vital carbon sink