Representation by Community Planning Alliance (Community Planning Alliance)
- Date submitted
- 16 February 2023
- Submitted by
- Non-statutory organisations
Our position is strongly in favour of net zero goals and of solar generation. However, the planning system needs to balance our need as a nation for food security and the need to protect the environment and the intrinsic value of countryside, as well as protecting heritage settings and vistas. Huge scale ground-based solar on best farmland such as proposed in this NSIP takes agricultural land out of production, fences off the countryside from wildlife and humans and industrialises it in a way that is entirely inappropriate. There is plenty of rooftop space for solar - domestic, commercial and public. That will keep power close to where it is needed, thus reducing the need for trenching and transmission infrastructure. The Electricity Act 1989 schedule 9 seeks the preservation of amenity, including landscape, visual, cultural and ecological. It also goes on to talk about the desirability of preserving natural beauty, nature and heritage. National Policy Statements set out how to ensure a balance is struck between need and harm. In this case, there is no need: ground-based solar panels are not needed because rooftops are available aplenty, and the harm to the environment and amenity is very great.