Representation by Marton & Gate Burton Parish Council (Marton & Gate Burton Parish Council)
- Date submitted
- 3 June 2023
- Submitted by
- Parish councils
Marton & Gate Burton Parish Council would like to comment on the number of solar farms being proposed for the West Lindsey and surrounding areas. Whilst it is recognised that the established Power Station sites at West Burton and Cottam provide the necessary infrastructure to connect the solar farms to the grid, the number of proposed solar farms in this area is excessive, as is the combined acreage of good quality agricultural land that would be taken out of food production. Global prices and availability of even basic crops such as wheat shows how vitally important it is that the UK produces as much of its own food as possible. War, flooding, wildfires and drought have shown that we cannot rely on other countries to grow our food. Home food production also cuts down on “food miles" thus reducing damage to the environment from the emissions associated with transportation. The solar farm developers say that the land under consideration is low quality land, but this land has still produced valuable crops for generations. There is already a heavy loss of productive agricultural land due to the demand for more housing without even more loss from solar panels. Agriculture is very important to the economy and way of life to a rural County like Lincolnshire. Many farmers are tenants on the land they farm and so have no say over the land being turned over to solar panels and they would lose their livelihood, causing unemployment and increasing social deprivation. The solar farm developers maintain that soil conditions and insect life improve as a result of less human involvement in the land, but so will pernicious and invasive weeds. Animal life would suffer as natural food supplies would be reduced and their traditional migratory corridors would be impeded. For centuries there has been a beautiful view from Lincoln Ridge, across the Trent Valley and over to Nottinghamshire. If the solar farm companies get their way, this beautiful vista will be replaced by a sea of ugly panels. In turn, this could impact on tourism for the area, which could again result in loss of income and increased social deprivation. Although not all the proposed solar farms are in the immediate vicinity of our villages of Marton and Gate Burton, the cable routes for ALL of the proposed developments would pass through our Parish in order to link to the Power Station sites on the other side of the River Trent. This area has Roman heritage related to it, the A1500 being the Roman road known as Tillbridge Lane. The local Planning Authority requires archaeological surveys to be undertaken before any development is allowed in the vicinity of the river and we hope that our Roman heritage and the potential for any archaeological remains will not be overlooked if the cable routes are underground. "Brownfield" sites and rooftops should be considered for solar panels before open, productive agricultural land. The Parish Council requests that the Inspectorate takes these points in consideration when making a decision on these applications. Yours faithfully, Gillian Martin, Clerk to Marton & Gate Burton Parish Council.