Representation by Sydney Raw
- Date submitted
- 16 April 2024
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
I Strongly Object To the Industrial Solar development around Great Stainton, Byers Gill. I am a retired farmer, I have lived and worked in the area all of my life, my family now farm in the area you are proposing this industrial war on prime agricultural land, I cannot believe the extent of industrial carnage you are proposing for this area over the next 40+ years. I regularly drive the road from Sedgefield to Great Stainton, past the green field of Wheat, Barley, Oil Seed rape which line our route to Darlington, along with the many cattle & sheep which graze the fields. When my family told me of the proposal I was absolutely shocked at the extent of destruction of our landscape/agricultural land, I then saw the start of another local Solar Development towards Newton Aycliffe and any image of how bad this could be was confirmed when seeing the large-scale piling structures being built, the destruction of the soil, and the absolute impassibility of the roads around this site. I am told you seek to only take poor grade agricultural land. Why then are you taking prime grade 3 land from the Great Stainton/Bishopton area. In my 80 years I have witnessed these fields grow outstanding crops of cereals, and produce exceptional grassland for cattle and sheep. As any farmer will tell you, land is only as good as the way to manage it, these fields over the years have been manged well to produce fields of gold. One example is the drought of 1976, the land in this area still produced high yielding crops through such adverse weather conditions. I have seen many changes over the years, but the most concerning one is the way our country is importing so much from abroad, especially our food. We were a virtually self-sufficient country after the war, but now already produce 40% less food that our country requires. How then can such a large area of prime agricultural land be allowed to be turned into an industrial eyesore.