Back to list West Burton Solar Project

Representation by Pauline Ann Chester

Date submitted
8 June 2023
Submitted by
Members of the public/businesses
  1. The West Burton proposal is just 1 of 4 Solar Infrastructure projects within a few miles of each other. Together this would be the largest solar farm complex in Europe and would amount to 10,000 acres in total. I feel strongly that the 4 proposals should be assessed together and not independently because of the extreme scale of the 4 combined proposals. 2. The West burton Solar project of 2,000 acres, combined with the other 3 proposals have a cumulative effect of 10,000 acres of farmland lost and the industrialisation of the area as a whole. I feel very strongly that this is totally unacceptable for many reasons. We cannot afford to lose valuable food producing land at this rate when as a nation we should be working on becoming more self sufficient to feed our population. I do not see why farmland has to be used for putting solar panels on when there are plenty of other alternatives which are less intrusive and not using valuable land, namely brownfield sites and roof tops. Taking up farmland is going to lead to a decline in agricultural production and with it a loss of jobs and akills in agriculture. 3. 2,000 acres of unprecedented 4.5m high mechanised solar panels covering the land can in no way blend into the landscape but can only dominate it. This to my mind is totally unacceptable in rural areas. 4. The proposal would be highly visible from areas such as the B1398 "Lincoln Cliff road". This is designated as an Area of Landscape Value and should not be vandalised in this way. The views, walks and enjoyment of the countryside would be affected greatly by this proposal. A major concern of mine is the wellbeing and mental health of people living in the area who would find themselves transformed into living in an industrial area not of their choosing instead of the rural area they did choose. 5. The Battery Energy Storage Systems near the village of Marton is a potential fire and chemical risk to life and property. Surely a better location for this apparatus is close to the Grid connection on a brownfield site not close to residential areas and other property. 6. I strongly believe that the land has been selected purely on availability, not on suitability or merit. on 3 separate parcels of land and being miles from the proposed grid connection would mean additional ecological disruption by the unnecessary civil works involved in the cable connections. Planning permission has been sought for the removal of 55 kilometres of Lincolnshire Hedgerows for the proposal, with the other 3 proposals planning applications are for 100's of miles of hedges to be removed. Hedges are an essential part of the ecological system. This scheme, along with the other 3, is not well planned in that it has not taken into account properly the environmental and wildlife issues. 7. There would be a 4 year construction period when combined with the other 3 projects on a building site of 10,000 acres, the effect of noise, disruption from increased heavy traffic on small country roads and all the other problems that will arise are going to have a significant effect on mental health and well being something I do not think has been considered. Our wildlife will also be effected bas their natural habitats are destroyed. 8.It is likely that the solar farm apparatus will be manufactured abroad, possibly China and the construction labour sourced from outside the area. I do not think this is an ethically sound proposal and hope that the overseas workers human rights will be respected. 9. I am fully aware that this country needs to increase capacity for carbon neutral power but I am not convinced that constructing vast solar farms on arable land in rural areas is the answer. Solar can play a part but it is limited because it provides power intermittently and least power when we need it most, namely winter evenings and storage of power is very limited. The proposed developments are an inefficient use of land, for their contribution to the energy mix. It would be more effective to install solar panels on commercial and domestic roofs, where it will directly reduce bills instead of using farmland.