Representation by Cinnia Bermingham
- Date submitted
- 23 February 2023
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
Prior to the war in Ukraine we were relying too much on imported food. Ukraine highlighted this and currently with food shortages due to climate change abroad we should be growing more seasonal crops. It is totally unacceptable that we will be losing a huge area of agricultural land to solar panels. Solar is the least efficient of renewable energy sources and is inefficient with respect to land use. It may be the cheapest to produce but does not result in cheaper tariffs as prices are set by wholesale gas prices. The local community will not benefit, instead of beautiful footpaths through fields and woods they will be walking on permissive footpaths through rows of solar panels, fencing and CCTV. The country is already losing 99,000 acres of rural land a year to industrial and other uses. Farmland is already a renewable energy producer making food from sunlight. Sacrificing land will have long term implications for our food security. The production of solar panels is environmentally unfriendly as it requires a perpetual input of fossil fuels. Solar panels only last 25-30 years and will they be replaced by more panels or if not what will the state of the soil be like after they have been removed? Finally how can a Company that has not been involved in a large scale project such as this be awarded such a monumental project?