Representation by Elizabeth Murray
- Date submitted
- 7 June 2023
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
This submission needs to be taken into consideration alongside the 3 other capital solar farm projects in West Lindsey, Lincolnshire being submitted for consultation. This is because in total some 10000 acres of productive arable agricultural land will be turned to glass if these proposals go ahead, putting the food security of the United Kingdom at risk. Have you been to a solar panel site in the north? They’re a sad barren sight. Tufted grass in spots, mainly scrub ground though. The advertised biodiversity is absent. There’s a reason for that. There can be no biodiversity without mammals in the mix. Rabbits, deer, hares, foxes, badgers all precluded from entering the areas by fencing. They bring seeds that grow into the wildflowers that bees need. None of those wildflowers in sites at Scunthorpe, Worksop or here in Ingham because the panels have to be kept clear of grasses, flowers etc so they are strimmed. Oh get to the point I hear you say… arable crops flower in the spring. These acreages provide for swarms of bees. The bees that we cannot do without. If these fields are turned to solar panels we will lose that, with it losing the ability to provide food security for the U.K. The plans include removal of thousands of metres of hedgerows where any biodiversity may have been. Sadly, these plans are just designed to industrialise the area, destroying the aquifer and will create flooding in areas that have not had issues previously due to lack of uptake of ground water. The crops grown are wheat, barley, fava beans, rape, linseed, potatoes, sugar beet, maize, Brussels Sprouts (love them or loathe them) and many more besides. Lincolnshire as a whole produces 1/5th of the total arable crop that comprises the 85% that we are currently able to provide for ourselves in the U.K. The proposed area for solar panels is approximately 1/3rd of that 20% produced in Lincolnshire. Shortages of straw and hay for animal bedding and feed have been prevalent for the last 3 years, worsening since the war in Ukraine. That means that dairy farmers ever diminishing returns are worsened by having to spend more on feed and bedding. Importing milk shouldn’t be something the U.K. needs to do; but if these solar farms are permitted the U.K. will need to as there will be a negative impact on the already struggling dairy industry. Honey is being produced from the crop flowers which is giving another important revenue source to the rural community. The U.K. staples of bread and potatoes are enabled or produced on this land. Potatoes are currently in short supply and the price of the cheap staple has risen exponentially already. From £8 to £25 for a 25kg bag of potatoes over the last 6 months. Imagine how much worse that will become if this land is not available to grow on. Sugar beet grown in this area goes to become standard sugar- 55% of the UK’s sugar is produced from sugar beet. The plant is at Newark which is less than 50 mins away. Incidentally, soil samples taken need to be redone. It’s impossible to achieve exactly the same results, to the decimal places on retest unless the original samples are being used. This is good arable land that has been deliberately miscategorised by the flawed system that allows the firms making the application to procure the tests. That can in no way be an independent assessment. The solar panels themselves are an eco lie. Manufactured in China, containing chemicals that are toxic and are unable to be recycled, needing batteries that again are unable to be recycled or repurposed, if this proposal were to be permitted it would be part of creating a toxic wasteland for the children and grandchildren of this generation. Where are all of these non-recyclable panels and cables going to be disposed of? There is no plan for that in any of the proposals…because there is no ability to dispose of them…except for sending them on a boat back to China to be piled up by the same population forced to create the toxic photovoltaic cells in the first place. Not very environmentally friendly and contrary to the anti slavery policies detailed on the websites of the companies submitting the solar farm proposals. There is a difference between the land owners (Trusts or investors) and the tenant farmers who farm and rely on the land. They form part of a rural economy that is self sustaining in Lincolnshire. Employment in industries associated with farming is maintained and the villages populated by people employed locally. Permitting the solar installations will cut off villages, close GP surgeries, shut village shops and pubs as the working community will be forced to move to Lincoln, or Gainsborough, putting considerable pressure on the social security budget as a result of their needing to claim benefits that previously they had no need of. Destroying lives and communities is a very real consequence of these plans. The suggested electricity output to the grid is best case scenario given full sunshine. This is Lincolnshire not Queensland. We get sunshine at a more oblique angle than the south of the U.K. and the actual output is a tiny fraction of the suggested figures in the application. It’s another reason crops could not be grown underneath the panels. There is just not enough sunshine to make them effective. I implore you to make a decision that safeguards the UK’s food security and doesn’t create an ecological wasteland for future generations to deal with. Imagine if we could grow biofuels…oh wait…we can…but only if we don’t give in to the short termism quick buck option of solar panels on an industrial scale.