Representation by Dr Peter John Pitt White
- Date submitted
- 28 February 2023
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
I strongly oppose the large-scale industrialization of prime agricultural land, particularly as recent events have clearly demonstrated that food security is even more vital than energy supply considerations. Even ignoring the security issue, the import of food which could otherwise be grown in Britain is exacerbating the very problem that this project is supposedly helping to reduce. Rutland is the smallest county in Britain, and yet it already has three large solar parks either approved or under planning consideration. All of these are on prime agricultural land, but an equivalent area of solar panels could easily be located on commercial premises with no loss of habitat, countryside or food production – my own company is actively pursuing solar film on 20,000m2 of our buildings. A further alternative to desecrating our precious countryside would be to use the large brown-field sites becoming available as military bases at North Luffenham and Cottesmore are closed. Instead, we have multiple applications from an overseas developer seeking to exploit a very lucrative ‘opportunity’, which will have no tangible benefits to local communities, but will blight the surrounding countryside for a generation. This proposal is the wrong project in the wrong place, and is unwanted, unnecessary and undemocratic.