Representation by Ross Rennie Edgar
- Date submitted
- 28 February 2023
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
I am writing to you in opposition to the proposed Mallard Pass Solar Farm. I am a resident of a village in the area which will be negatively affected. As information seems to be drip fed by your organisation, it becomes more obvious to me & I’m sure your organisation as well that this project area is not the right place to even think about such an industrial installation. Whilst attending your public meeting at Greatford village hall recently I spoke to a number of your representatives, who, as you know, gave vague or dismissive answers to any questions asked. I went in with lots of questions & came away with very little answers. Villages in the area already have issues with flooding, these can only get worse if such a project was to go ahead. Whether properties are inside or outside the project area it is still your responsibility, but there seems to be no plan in place. Construction, then management of the site will compact soil increasing the risk of flooding. What are your plans to prevent any flooding in the industrial zone or surrounding land/villages? More than 50% of the proposed land to be developed is grade 3a or above agricultural land, developing this land is contrary to the governments agricultural and food security policies. Why do you still propose to develop on this land? Trying to sell the fact that the site has been chosen as there is already a substation in Ryhall is obviously the wrong reasons to choose this area, you should be looking for a suitable area of land for the project, then install your own substation. You have this all backwards! I’m sure you realise this already & wait for you to decide to scrap this current project proposal & move on to a new suitable location. You have obviously under budgeted for any full or proper ecological surveys to be completed, the surveys that are happening are over a short timeframe and nowhere near suitable for an ecology company to do their job properly. The answers I got at the meeting about surveys, ecological matters & biodiversity could have been presented by a child, yes, they were that bad! Instead of completing key species surveys you seem to want to rely on local records centres submissions, which any decent ecologist knows would be very sparce with few entries compared to getting out & completing full species surveys. Having lived in the area for almost a decade & working in the conservation sector, I know there are red list & key species in the area close to & on the proposed land. Many in good numbers, rather than what is presented in your report of may be 2 / 2 present etc! There hasn’t even been an effort to survey or find records for bats. How can you propose to have so much heavy machinery on the land, close to your ‘biodiverse’ woodland & hedgerows & not bother to survey for bats or bat roosts? How will you manage species protection if this went ahead? Will you have a team of ecologists at hand observing & making sure no wildlife crimes are committed? How are you planning on making the site accessible for species such as badgers, foxes & hares? A little gate here & there may tick one of your boxes but this is no where near good enough. How do you propose to plant up your proposed ‘meadows’? What seed mixes will be used? What species are present in each area close to where you propose to add seed? The local (10-mile radius of proposed site) road infrastructure isn’t capable of holding the amount of vans & heavy machinery that you’d need for such a project. How do you propose to safely (thinking of local communities, wildlife & protected road verges) manage this? The countryside that you plan to turn into a power station is beautiful, species rich & enjoyed by a wide variety of communities for many reasons. Please scrap these plans NOW! Yours faithfully Ross Edgar