Representation by Clare Brufton
- Date submitted
- 23 March 2023
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
I am against this proposal. I consider myself to be very green but I think the installation of solar panels on such a huge scale is a total disaster. Firstly I don’t think Gate Burton solar farm application should be taken in isolation, there are another three giant solar farms planned in the same area (Cottam, West Burton and Tillbridge) and due to the huge scale of these developments, and since they will form a massive virtually continuous area when added together, nearly 10000 acres, they MUST be considered as one development, and planning must be looked on them as one huge development, they cannot be considered in isolation. The companies have supposedly conducted a proper consultation before planning applications were made. I do not feel that I have been consulted at all. This company has not contacted me to explain and justify their application. Only one of the four companies sent me a very simplistic and I informative leaflet to my house. None of these companies has had the common courtesy to visit my village and explain themselves and why they want to ruin the area around my village and my corner of Lincolnshire. Nor have they stated what a huge impact these schemes will make on the local area in terms of traffic, pollution, flood risk, panel size, glare, visual impact etc.. These companies have not acted in good faith. Why are they wanting to use good, productive farmland, and why haven’t these companies considered brownfield sites? Green energy seems to be the UK’s Klondike at the moment and everyone is jumping on the bandwagon. One of my major concerns with these projects is that they, as time unfolds and more research is done, could wturn out to be net carbon emitters and a white elephant. There is little research as to how much CO2 is emitted in installing this kind of solar infrastructure, from mining and refining the raw materials, transporting them to China for manufacture of the constituent parts, shipping them here, installing it all etc., etc.. Surely these companies should be proving that the manufacture, installation and running costs in terms of carbon emissions of these projects will save more CO2 than they will emit. I cannot see that the companies have shown this. There is increasing evidence emerging that these types of project are in fact net carbon emitters over their lifetimes, so this is simply greenwash. A cynic may argue that the main reason for these projects is simply to make money for a few individuals. Another point is that these farms are simply not efficient. The companies have given figures for the power output of these farms, but in reality in our sunless Northern climes they will only produce around 11% of the claimed figures. Solar panels may make more sense in sun drenched N Africa, but in Lincolnshire; really? The money that will be invested in these solar farms would be better spent on more proven green technologies like wind and wave power. I believe that even the government understands that solar is not very efficient in the UK, this is why it has currently only set a very low percentage for solar power generation as a UK target (2% I believe). One supposed reason for siting these farms here is that they are near soon to be redundant power stations and they can use the existing distribution equipment at these power stations. None of these proposed solar farms are actually near the power stations, which will become brownfield sites; some of these panels will be 20km from the power station sites, this surely negates the reasons of siting these farms. How much extra infrastructure and equipment will this need? Another cynic may say that the sites for the farms are dictated by which farmers these companies can bribe to give up their land. Then there is the question of recycling. Very little of these solar panels can be recycled. They will need to be be replaced several times during the touted lifespans of these projects, which is 30-40 years I believe. How many hundreds of thousands of tons will be going to landfill during the lifetime of these projects? Also, they contain toxic materials that are hazardous to human health and the environment. This will all end up in landfill, and will present a major headache a decade down the line. Also, as mentioned previously, the vast majority of the components for these solar farms are made in China. Therefore, in my opinion, they are supporting a nasty regime that is dangerous to us in the West and as they have now become a major purchaser of Russian oil, these projects support the Russian war against Ukraine. Moreover, as over 60% of China’s energy comes from fossil fuels, these solar farms are being manufactured using fossil fuels, and as previously mentioned how much fossil fuel is used in the production of these farms, right from mining the raw ore and materials, shipping materials around the globe to China for manufacturing, transport and shipping to the UK, installation and the hundreds of lorries a day that will be used during the installation phase. On the subject of hundreds of lorries per day, Gate Burton will use hundreds of lorries a day, just for this one development, how many lorries a day will be needed to develop the whole 9500 acres of the four solar farms. This will be a huge negative impact on the lives of the people that live here; HUGE. And for FOUR years. Other impacts will be horrendously visual. These panels will be 4.5 m tall, over 9500 acres. I can’t even imagine what that will look like, and I probably couldn’t look at it all for the glare! There is a reason most of us live in the country, we like the greenery, we like the space, we like the wildlife. This will destroy all that. This will ruin this area of the Trent Valley, which is designated as an Area of Great Landscape Value (AGLV). This will destroy beautiful vistas on a ginormous scale, destroy ancient landscapes, heritage, history and beautiful walks. What will this do to the physical health and mental health of the people who are surrounded by all this ugliness? We will live with a 9500 acre factory all around us. As to the impact on wildlife, this will also be huge, and I know the Wildlife Trusts are against these solar farms. When one thinks of solar panels one would like to picture wildflowers, growing beneath the panels, sheep gently grazing. As far as I can see there will be none of this. As these installations contain expensive materials, including lots of stealable Copper, then they will all be surrounded by high security fencing. Apart from birds, nothing will be able to roam around freely, how will this affect diversity, and how will this share the government’s latest and ambitious vision for nature recovery and the Environment Improvement Plan? What will the companies do to enhance nature recovery in the vast area of these solar farms, looks like nothing to me, these farms will degrade it further. They won’t improve the environment, they will destroy it. Another issue is that the Trent Valley is a migration route for many birds, how will this affect them? The glare and the huge change in the landscape could cause very serious damage to birds migration patterns and routes. These solar panels will be a worse desert that the farmland they will denude. This leads to another problem: Loss of good productive farmland, almost 10000 acres. Given the current geopolitical l situation at the moment, food security should be extremely high on this country’s agenda, especially in conjunction with global warming. Food supply chains into this country will come under increasing pressure; look at what is currently happening with production in N. Africa and Spain, due to unseasonal weather caused by climate change, and what is happening in Ukraine, one of the World’s grain baskets. As global warming becomes inevitably worse and geopolitical instability worsens, especially given the desire for global dominance by China, food security will become of paramount importance. Lincolnshire is oft referred to as the bread basket of the UK, we can’t afford to lose this. In addition, there would be a significant loss of employment in the area, in this traditional agricultural field - this local workforce will be unable to relocate for other farming jobs, losing skills and motivation and leading to further economic decline in an area that is already struggling. These four solar farms will encompass so much land they will add up to Europe’s largest. These companies that are applying for permission to ruin this corner of the UK have no experience of running anything on this scale, another recipe for disaster, and a white elephant. As I stated, I am green and I support proven renewable energy sources, but I think a solar farm on this scale is wrong. If the companies can definitively prove that the carbon cost of installing these farms, is paid back during their operation, and not just by a little amount, and that they can be recycled, then they can come and put some on my house. There are many roofs in the UK, and many brownfield sites, that could be used without having to lose good quality farmland. A much better and truly green plan, would be to put wind generation up. It is a much more efficient proposition for the UK, much of the infrastructure can be made in the UK and Europe, the carbon costs to make and implement are much better known, and although not to everyone’s taste, they will be visually much better and more acceptable. There are problems with bird strikes, but the land is accessible to wildlife and can be farmed, without too much loss of land. In my opinion these proposed farms are ill thought out, are at odds with government policy and are based on pure unproven economics. They are not green, they are not designed to benefit the UK and it’s people, or it’s wildlife. They are get rich quick schemes for the few. If you let any of these projects go ahead you will be condemning our green and pleasant land to an unsightly death.