Representation by Melanie Lyne
- Date submitted
- 1 April 2024
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
I object to the application for Byers Gill solar farm. As a resident of Bishopton the lack of local support for the Byers Gill project was made very clear to JMB during the very cursory contact they had with residents at the scoping stage of this application. RWE even confirm in their submission that they realise that there is not local support for this project.(7.5.1) The cumulative impact of solar projects already approved within 4km of Bishopton are already going to be detrimental. There are 9 projects currently approved/ operational using approximately 1250 acres of land with a supposed capacity of 297.5 MW. Multiple operational wind farms are directly visible and in close proximity to the village. The cumulative impact of this additional solar development would mean our small rural community would be in the middle of the largest concentration of solar power plants in Europe. How can this be seen as equitable in the drive to net zero? Every route in and out of the village will run along fields of solar panels. Due to the undulating landscape simply allowing a hedge to grow will not screen us from this impact. RWE admit that in some areas mitigation is not even possible or only slightly improved after 15 years. The idea that interpretation areas and public rights of way through acres of solar panels will be a public amenity area is laughable. Who would really want to sit looking at solar panels listening to the hum of equipment instead of hearing bird song and looking at far reaching countryside views. This is after the protracted construction phase and all the noise and heavy traffic on narrow, winding country roads, This is not a case of NIMBYism. We have at our own expense placed solar panels on a section of our roof. These are placed out of sight of the front elevation of our house as Bishopton is a conservation area. A point that is apparently insignificant when large infrastructure applications occur? The winter efficiency of solar panels is low, around 11% of the stated capacity of the panels. How does this make the loss of such large areas of productive farm land justifiable.This is before the impact of noise pollution, increased crime, health and safety impacts of battery storage systems in close proximity to the residents and school children is considered. If the aim is truly to use solar panels in a sensitive way why are they not part of the planning procedure on all the new domestic housing planned by Stockton and Darlington council's locally. Acres of warehouse roof space are also available for solar panels in Teesside area without the need for loss of additional valuable agricultural land. The impact on local wildlife is already going to be significant with so many sites locally. Wild geese migrate along routes around the village landing in several fields which are due to be used for panels. Protected bird species nest locally as admitted in the RWE submission. Leaving one area of scrub land untouched by panels is hardly a gain in biodiversity. It should not be underestimated the impact that this development will have on stress levels and mental health of residents. Every day we will be reminded of the rural setting we have lost from the views from our own house, light pollution and background noise at night. The time frame for the wind farm directly visible from our north facing windows has already been extended from 25 to 40 years. The 40 year operational time frame of this solar power station is by no means short term. We as a family will be expected to tolerate all the negative impacts of these developments for what remains of our lives. The construction phase will mean we live with constant disruption from heavy machinery and which will also be flood lit in the winter. RWE's suggested off road access is directly visible from our house. As we live on raised land no mitigation will change this. Our only other option would be to consider moving away from our home of 33 years and potentially accept a lesser value for our property. As one of our household is a vulnerable adult we chose to live in this sheltered environment to limit the impact of stressors upon them. I hope the assessors will take in to account the rights of all users of our local area before proceeding any further with this inappropriately sited power plant. We as residents are entitled to peaceful enjoyment of our property as defined by the Human rights act. There are also multiple equestrian sites, cyclists and walkers who also benefit from the area and will be impacted by these changes. There is no benefit at all to our local community from this project and the only people to gain will be the developers. We will already sacrificing enough as a community in the drive for net zero with the sites already approved.