Representation by Carlton Parish Council (Carlton Parish Council)
- Date submitted
- 28 September 2024
- Submitted by
- Parish councils
Carlton Parish Council (North Yorkshire) oppose the proposed large scale Helios Solar Farm, the planning application for which is believed to be imminent. The Parish Council highlight our concerns and reservations about the proposed Helios project which is considerably bigger that other solar projects in the area to which planning permission has been granted. This will mean the villages of Carlton, Camblesforth, and Hirst Courtney will be become guinea pigs in the quest for more land taken up for larger solar farm projects. There are many reasons why we object to this project going ahead which are listed below: • During a time when the UK is struggling with Food Security (Government Food Strategy) this project will remove 476 hectares of high quality arable land. We are a proud farming community who would wish to maintain our local farming economy. • As a farming community, we value the ecology and sustainability of the land therefore we are concerned for the toxic metal components containing cadmium and lead in the solar panels and the use of hydrochloric acid, gallium arsenide, sulfuric acid and copper, indium, gallium, di-selenide, in their manufacture. • We also question what happens to these large numbers of solar panels containing toxic elements at the end of their life span, or when requiring replacement during the next 40 years. There is insufficient infrastructure capacity to safely deal with the proposed levels of e-waste and the toxic elements. • Although the company engaged with the community through seminars/ consultations, where you could examine the detail of the project, the scale of the project, and level of expertise, the hosts failed to alleviate our concerns. No detail of what percentage of components will be recycled, and what will have to go landfill or be buried. • The type of panel proposed have not been seen or tested in the UK before. These larger panels have a significant impact on the rural landscape. These new panels will sit over 2 metres from the ground, and will be visible when looking south from the A1041, next to residential properties, for a minimum of 15 years. • The creation of the farm will cause significant disruption to the community for over 12 months. There is expected to be over 36 HGV deliveries every day that will impact local traffic on the country lanes and cause significant increases in noise and air pollution locally. The large area of land expected to be transformed is currently home to a wide variety of wildlife and nature, including free roaming deer, birds of prey, and small mammals. We are passionate about our local area and fear this natural beauty will be lost to a building site and then a huge canopy of sun blocking electrical cells. Lesser applications are being dismissed on the grounds that the introduction of panels and other infrastructure, including transformers, inverters and fencing will “inevitably introduce a fundamental change to agricultural land” and the major visual harm that would come with the project. The situation is no different in the case of our community. We strongly urge that when this planning proposal comes to you that you seriously consider the affects this will have on our community for generations to come, and recommend a rejection.