Representation by Claire McArthur
- Date submitted
- 26 February 2023
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
I fully support renewable 'green energy' and understand it's importance with the current climate crisis. However I do not understand the rationale for such a huge development on green farmland it makes no sense to me. Especially at a time when we need to be producing more food in the UK not less. We live around 0.5 mile from the proposed solar farm, I was initially positive about it until I saw the size and scale. It's beyond anything vaguely sensible. To engulf an entire village and massive percentage of a rural county is quite astounding. I would more than welcome solar panels on my house, on fields alongside motorways, on disused airfields/army bases etc. There are so many other options that would not have such a significant impact on farmland, wildlife and an entire community. My children have to cross the A6121 to get to and from school. This road is already horrendous to cross and hard to pull out from our cul de sac due to the volume of traffic and speed it travels. I have approached the council for some sort of crossing and have been told it cannot be done. I am terrified at the additional heavy loaders and building vehicles that this will cause for a significant amount of time and the additional risk this brings to my children and myself and my neighbours trying to cross this road especially at peak times. I [Redacted] and chose to move to a quiet rural area to support this with regular walks in the local countryside [Redacted] which has worked. I have serious concerns how this will impact on [Redacted] when the area is effectively turned into a huge building site and the wildlife and animals and views that we love so much are decimated. The impact of the noise generated from the building of these solar panels, living so close, and how triggering this will be [Redacted] is a significant concern. Home is our quiet space and we use our garden a lot to decompress from a noisy world, we won't be able to do this for many months while this huge scale project is being developed and we won't be able to go out for a quiet walk in our usual places either. The impact on our mental health is huge. I really hope this project is reconsidered and options that do not impact so much on farmland, wildlife, mental health, road safety, and community are considered instead.