Representation by Elizabeth Murray
- Date submitted
- 17 February 2023
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
This project needs to be considered alongside the further 3 that are trying to turn a total of 10000 acres of productive arable agricultural land to the north of Lincoln into solar installations, contrary to the U.K. Government’s Food Security Bill. This examination should also take into account the further proposals recently created for swathes of land to the south of Lincoln As at 2021, the U.K. produced 71% of its own food requirement. Of that Lincolnshire produced 20%. Proposals to remove a significant portion of that productive arable land will result in higher food prices from the extra imports required just to feed this nation. That is without considering the reduced supply from overseas in the interim as a direct result of the war in Ukraine. Any suggestion that this land is not productive arable can be countered by the food produced annually. Creating solar deserts in rural Lincolnshire will isolate villages, ruin the local economies, put tenant farmers out of business and ultimately result in more pressure on urban areas as people once employed locally in the rural communities are forced to move into Lincoln, Gainsborough and Scunthorpe. It is likely that demand for government provided benefits will increase as a result. Road infrastructure is not set up to deal with the heavy goods vehicles at the volume acknowledged in their plans by Island Green Power and the other 3 applicants. Roads will become unusable for the local residents, footpaths and greenspaces will become places of danger and anyone owning or riding horses will not be able to use the bridleways there. Until every large industrial building and new build home has solar panels installed, we must not create a situation where the fallacy of a quick win for energy production, stops future generations from being able feed themselves without foreign dependency. There are further considerations about the production of panels by enslaved populations, the lack of ability to recycle solar panels and the single generation lifecycle of a solar panel. If we want to destroy the UK’s economy permitting these solar installations is a prime place to start.