Representation by Trevor John Hughes
- Date submitted
- 20 February 2024
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
We moved to [Redacted], where we had lived all of our lives. We were both retired and wanted to live in the countryside because of our love of nature, lots of wild animals to see, the beauty of the countryside that can be seen from our house, no noise, fresh air.[REDACTED] Around October 2022 is when I first got to know about Boom Power’s plan to create East Yorkshire Solar Farm. I didn’t take the scheme seriously to begin with but soon realised Boom wanted to build a 3,500 acre solar farm and got involved with the detail. * This is agricultural land, growing a variety of crops and is also pasture for cattle. As a result of this scheme thousands of acres will be lost for growing arable crops. * A solar farm has a look of a light industrial development, not something I would have chosen to live next to had I known about it and the effect on resale values. It is not something you would expect to see when living/visiting a country village! * When someone from Boom was asked why they had surrounded Gribthorpe with solar panels? The answer was they thought Gribthorpe was just a farm and not a village of 18 houses! Knowing this you would expect the plans to change but they have not. Why? * I accept we have to provided alternative energy sources, but this could be achieved locating the panels away from villages and screened from view. * The beauty of the countryside is going to be compromised by the solar farm. * There will be an impact on the environment particularly to the wildlife, which will probably result in the large mammals finding alternative habitat to live in and the loss that will be felt by the people who live in Gribthorpe sharing there world with them. * The roads around Gribthorpe are single track and have no passing places. They are in very poor condition having large cracks in them, 25-50mm wide, including major subsidence. They are hardly fit for purpose now! If the scheme is approved for construction I do not see these roads holding up structurally to the demands put upon them by construction and local traffic. * The mind boggles thinking about the impact on the people of Gribthorpe and the other people in the surrounding villages when large plant and construction vehicles start building the solar farm including the delivery of large solar panels. The construction period I am told is 2 years. * The noise impact on people by driving piles to support the solar panels and constructing the solar farm is going to be significant.