Representation by Gillian Woodcock
- Date submitted
- 10 February 2024
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
The sheer scale of the solar farm, need to take into consideration the amount of wind turbines we already have in the area. Position next to properties, no consideration for the effect it will have on them, no clarity of scale and size of panels and construction timescales as well as noise. Impact on bird and animal life due to planned destruction of natural known habitat, this will have a lasting impact on their ability to gather food, destruction of established shelter/ nesting areas, space to roam freely. The planting of new shrubs will take too long to establish and there seems no staggered approach to minimising the damage this will have on wildlife. Credibility of claimed 'green credentials', carbon pay back versus costs before panels are needing to be replaced (life of a panel 25yrs on 900,000 panels). Damage to land and its ability to disperse water in an area that is already prone to flooding, and interference with natural drainage processes. Why we are taking up agricultural land for this project when there is a need to be become more self sufficient as a nation, grow our own rather than import food from a distance? The government is trying to encourage farmers to plant more hedgerow and trees, this scheme pulls them up, makes no sense. We have thousands of homes planning to be built in and around this area, why are there not compulsory solar panels being fitted on all of these new homes as well as all the distribution centres being built, again on farm land? This would go some way to at least reduce the need to take up such valuable farming land for the solar farm. Can we not come up with better places to position these rather than on green belt? i.e. How about running the length of motorways.