Representation by Garron Denham
- Date submitted
- 10 April 2024
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
The way in which this development has come about has been underhand and run by people who have no appreciation for a rural area and rural life. This country divides into Industrial, Urban and Rural areas. Good practice would automatically place a development such as this in an industrial area. Rural areas want to maintain our heritage and with this proposal, we seem to be putting industrial infrastructure into an agricultural/rural landscape. As this moment in time we have a massive industrial development in Tees Works led by Sir Ben Houchen, the Tees Valley Mayor. Tees Works constitutes 1000’s of acres of reclaimed industrial land with huge substation capacity already in existence. The purpose of the site is to attract renewable companies and renewable projects, of which this is one. Why haven’t conversations gone on between developers and Tees Works? It could present a massive opportunity for Teesside both in terms of employment and investment into the region, to have a huge solar development at Tees Mouth. The availability of appropriate infrastructure already exists ready to connect into. Initiatives such as this are ill thought out. Our climate is changing, evidenced by water saturating land and this proposal to cover grassland, a natural resource to mitigate flooding, in glass will further exasperate the situation. This initiative has made individuals in the local community depressed at the prospect that this is to be our future.