Representation by Denise Ann Walsh
- Date submitted
- 2 May 2024
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
I am supportive of the need for renewable energy but I do not support the proposal to locate the solar farm in this location. This will have a devastating impact on the local environment, the wildlife and their habitats which will far outweigh any perceived benefits of contribution to generating renewable energy. This will disrupt the delicate balance of nature which will have a negative and long-lasting ecological impact on the environment from which it may never recover. Meeting energy goals should not be used to justify the wrong development is in the wrong location with the unnecessary use of prime agricultural land. The proposed siting of the development will result in significant loss of best and most versatile agricultural land (BMV) at a time when there are valid and real concerns about food security. We should be supporting and encouraging our farmers to grow and produce our own food so that as a nation we become less reliant on imported goods. In so doing we will also reduce our carbon footprint. The project brings no benefit economic or otherwise to rural South Derbyshire or its residents. The development of such an industrial scale solar farm in a rural location along with the already significant number of other large scale solar applications in South Derbyshire and neighbouring Staffordshire will turn a rural and agricultural landscape into an industrial wasteland with long lasting implications from which the land is unlikely to ever recover. This development cannot be integrated into the landscape character. It will be totally out of scale with its surroundings and will significantly detract from the landscape character and visual amenity even with the proposed mitigation. These are lowland areas and large-scale construction work could result in a diversion of watercourses and an increased risk of flooding in an already vulnerable areas. There is also the risk of groundwater contamination from lithium-ion batteries. The glint and glare impact of the project from the vast solar arrays which will create a risk for low flying aircraft in the area. The local roads are totally unsuitable for the increased volume and frequency of traffic that will be required during the construction phase. Large vehicles will have to navigate narrow lanes with blind bends and through small villages. This will create congestion, noise, vibration, disruption to existing traffic and pollution from vehicle fumes. There are road safety concerns for all road users but especially pedestrians, cyclists and horse riders. Once lost to this scale of industrial use it is unlikely that the land will recover despite the assurances that have been given for the future. The proposed decommissioning activity to enable the affected land to be returned to BMV at the end of the so-called temporary project lifespan of 40 years is inadequate and is reliant on an overseas investor to fund the extensive decommissioning costs. The opportunity to increase the contribution to the national renewable energy objectives can be achieved using far more viable solutions such as existing brownfield and commercial sites and installing solar panels on the rooftops of these commercial units.