Representation by Barbara Grafton
- Date submitted
- 1 March 2023
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
As an active member and former branch chair of Amnesty International, I am extremely concerned about the plight of the Uyghur slave labourers in Turkestan, China who will be forced to build the solar panels required by this project. At a time when large parts of this country remain in drought and there are shortages of fresh food in the shops due to the effects of climate change on sources of imports in southern countries such as Morocco, Portugal and Spain, it seems totally irresponsible to take valuable agricultural land in Lincolnshire out of production. Today's major rail crash in Greece illustrates why it is so important to take every possible precaution to maintain railway safety. The installation of vast areas of solar panels, cabling, fencing, inverters and other infrastructure on both sides of one of the busiest, high-speed railway lines in the country could create unnecessary hazards which risk railway safety. This is not acceptable. This installation would have a major negative effect on the quality of life for local communities whose neighbourhoods would be transformed from living, productive countryside into an outdoor industrial workplace with visual, noise and other unwanted intrusions. The majority of such sites are maintained by industrial mowing, contracted chemical cleaning and spraying with weedkiller. Companies now specialise in providing such services on contract. All of these activities will have a negative effect on local residents, on underlying soil and watercourses and on nature. Please reject this application.