Representation by Alan William Rutherford
- Date submitted
- 2 May 2024
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
There should be no solar on the Best and Most Versatile Land (BMV) - put solar on rooftops, or on brown sites, not on good agricultural land which includes grade 3A &3b. Also, food security needs prioritising, at a time when locally produced food is critical to our efforts to feed our country’s population and reduce our carbon footprint. Detrimental Landscape and Visual Impact on the rural character of the area from solar arrays, containers and 3m high fencing with security cameras – increasing urbanisation of a rural area of small rural villages. Local wildlife will be affected significantly during construction and will be driven from their traditional habitats, when the area they currently occupy and travel across, becomes a construction site. At 3m, the fencing will prevent natural movement of wildlife. Glint and glare issues from the vast solar arrays proposed, would affect not only local wildlife, but also local residents in sight of the solar farm. Likewise, the hum from the inverters would add to an industrial installation, that would similarly have an adverse affect on local fauna and residents. The size and scale of the development would be out of scale with the landscape and dominate an attractive rural area. 40 years is a significant period in people’s lives and the development would detract from the landscape character and visual amenity. In other words, a significant blot on the landscape. At consultation, the construction phase was 16 months, adding an unacceptable impact on rural local road networks including the A444, Stapenhill, Drakelow, Walton on Trent, Rosliston and Coton in the Elms and other surrounding villages. The build compounds are on small rural winding rural roads unacceptable for large HGVs and large traffic numbers. The new Walton Bypass is not built and the Chetwynd bridge at the A513 now has a weight restriction sending all farm and existing traffic through the villages which are already bottlenecks and rat runs to a creaking lack of traffic infrastructure with poorly maintained roads riddled with crater like potholes. Abnormal loads through rural roads and Coton in the Elms are unacceptable and contraventions of the 7.5t weight limit are a large issue now before the additional associated traffic is introduced from the development. The historic environment of local conservation areas and heritage assets including listed buildings will be affected by the alien industrial development. Every existing agricultural land drain will be ripped up by the pile driving of each solar array, leading to a change in water flow and increased flooding and an inability for the land to ever return to agricultural use with nutrients washed out of the soil and drainage decimated The loss of livelihoods and income from agricultural contractors, tenant farmers, farm workers and suppliers is not addressed from a large 191ha solar application nor its impact on local villages and amenity. The construction phase is 16 months adding an unacceptable impact on rural local road networks including the A444, Stapenhill, Castle Gresley, Drakelow, Rosliston and Coton in the Elms and other surrounding villages, the new routes have not been consulted on and are unenforceable.