Representation by Michael Nobbs
- Date submitted
- 14 April 2024
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
I object in the strongest possible way to the development of Byers Gill Solar. This planning application is for 6 sites approaching 2000 acres, is in addition to eight Solar power generation schemes in a relatively small radius of 5km already either approved, in operation or being constructed (1.Gately Moor 2.Longpasture 3.Whinfield 4.Letch Lane 5.Thorpe Bank 6.Low Middelfield farm 7.Burtree lane 8.Hunger Hill Farm) Collectively, this will be the largest close concentration of solar farms not only in the UK but in Europe. Enough is enough! We seem to be targeted disproportionately in the North simply due to the fact that there is an access point to the grid within a 10km radius. This distance between the development and the grid access however means widespread and long lasting disruption during construction as cables will have to be laid underground and in some cases along narrow country roads between the 6 sites, the sub station and the access to the grid point. The landowners are the only people who will gain from these developments . Of the planning applications granted and referenced above, the Whinfield Solar development is currently under construction & provides proof that building arrays of solar panels with battery units, fencing akin to a prison setting, and an electricity substation will change this rural environment into an industrial power generation setting. I have witnessed the construction of this Solar development at Whinfield which is 2.4 miles from Great Stainton. The site is one tenth the size of the proposed Byers Gill development. Already this smaller development at Whinfield has caused disruption to my daily life. Construction at Whinfield has continued in spite of the severely wet winter and waterlogged ground conditions; The soil within the site has been compacted & the site is permanently flooded. Roads are covered in mud and filth and this has gone on for months. The road surface has been damaged by heavy vehicles with huge potholes and the road edging destroyed. Noise and vibration can be heard & felt 2.4 miles away. When I think about the fact that Byers Gill will be developed 130m from my house and be ten times the size of Whinfield and take 18 months to 24 months minimum to construct, the resulting anxiety, impact on my mental health due to lack of sleep and constant worry is considerable. To exacerbate this, local opposition and the concerns of local residents are being ignored by the Byers Gill developer, RWE whose response to issues we have raised has been woeful. As ‘green washing’ RWE at their initial consultation meeting in May 2023 claimed that sheep can graze under the solar panels. This is nonsense as solar panels catch the sunlight which plants would otherwise use to grow. On a normal summer’s day, perhaps 10 per cent of the sunlight might get missed by the solar panels and caught by the plants’ leaves instead, not enough to sustain growth as can be witnessed in nature as plants do not grow in deep shade such as dense woodland. In addition, plants are not able to grow on severely compacted soils, hence the suggestion by RWE that wildflowers will be sown and will thrive under solar panels is a myth, as too is the claim that biodiversity will be improved. Any wildlife will be driven from the area during construction with 2 metre fencing providing a tunnelling effect which will severely limit the movement of any remaining wildlife. As a resident in this once beautiful area, I will, in future see little else on my day to day travels other than solar power development after solar power development blighting the rolling rural landscape. This will create an ongoing adverse effect on my daily life as well as the lives of other local residents in surrounding villages Bishopton Carlton, Redmarshall, Whitton, Stillington, Sadberge, Great Stainton, Little Stainton. I am a proud supporter of initiatives to slow down climate change but THERE IS NO JUSTIFIABLE REASON FOR CONSTRUCTING SOLAR FARMS ON PRIME AGRICULTURAL LAND. FOOD SECURITY IS PARAMOUNT. The Government has already indicated its support for North Sea wind and its lack of support of solar farms by offering substantial incentives for North Sea wind with a meagre £3.3m incentive for solar. This indicates that Government is more confident in using wind power to meet zero carbon by 2050. WIND POWER is the future for renewables. Solar farms produce their maximum electricity in the summer and during the day when demand for electricity is at its lowest. Wind turbines produce their maximum electricity in mid- winter when demand for electricity is at its peak. Being renewable does not mean being zero carbon. The embedded carbon footprint of a solar panel is 50 gms of CO2 per kWh generated, while the embedded carbon footprint of a wind turbine is 7.5 gms per kWh. 7.5 gms is a lot closer to nett zero. In addition, the UK has poor solar-power potential. Around 1-2 kilowatt-hours a day of “direct normal irradiation” falls on the average square metre in Britain, that’s the average so clearly the figure will be lower in the Northeast of England. The government has regularly stated that prime agricultural land will not be sacrificed in the drive to achieve nett zero. Whilst some of the land in Byers Gill development may not be prime agricultural land it is more than suited to the production of cereal crops and in the past has produced potatoes and even strawberries. I implore you to turn down this application and refuse permission to build Byers Gill.