Representation by Caroline Mary Brook
- Date submitted
- 3 March 2024
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
I live in [REDACTED] with my husband in a property at the end of the village which fronts onto [REDACTED] and is next to a public right of way and farmland. We moved to Spaldington to enjoy a quiet country life. I am very concerned about Boom Power’s application to cover a significant area of farmland in and around Spaldington and nearby villages with solar panels. If this development is approved, it will have a very real and detrimental impact on me, my family, my neighbours and many others in the surrounding area. I have contacted our local MP, the Rt, Hon. David Davis, who is aware of the negative feeling towards this development. Given the development’s sheer size, it will, if approved, destroy our rural area as we know it. I watch farmers going about their day to day business, working the fields and dealing with the harvests and everything in between. I am concerned about productive farmland being given over to solar panels and what this means for food security. The pandemic should have made it very clear that we need to prioritise food security over clean energy targets. Meeting targets does not feed people. I did not move here because I wanted to live in an industrial area. I am not against solar per se, but it needs to be in the right place i.e. in an already industrialised area, and not on productive farmland. There are options to deliver solar but cost is most likely a driver. Putting a rural area to solar may well be a cheaper way of meeting targets, but it is not the right way. If this development goes ahead, it will turn a rural landscape into an industrial one. There will be a significant impact on the tranquillity of the area. I am concerned that if the development is approved, there will be a base for the solar farm at the farm at the end of [REDACTED]. This will mean significant traffic going past my house for the duration of the build -, damage to roads, noise, vibrations, risk to my pets. There will be issues throughout the development and it will be the inhabitants of these villages that bear the brunt of increased traffic and the introduction of traffic management (road closures/traffic lights etc). Our small narrow roads can barely accommodate two motor cars side by side let alone dealing with a huge increase in heavy lorries. There will be noise and vibrations from construction (estimated period 2 years plus) and during the daily life of the panels (40 years). There will be even greater destruction of verges with utilities underneath (water, phone lines etc). I am therefore concerned about the damage to infrastructure, power, water, and broadband/phones. I am concerned about the proximity of the proposed development to homes and businesses with buffer zones that are far too small. Residential and visual amenity is important and shouldn't be ignored. If the development goes ahead, I will look out of my back windows onto a sea of solar panels. My current view is farmland – productive farmland. If the development is approved there will be destruction of ancient trees and hedgerows. There are many oak trees, some of which are very old, which will no doubt need to be felled to accommodate the proposed development. Footpaths and bridle ways will be compromised or moved. A country walk will now consist of walking through fields of solar panels surrounded by prison like fencing and watched by CCTV. Said fencing, will be no doubt be invasive with a possibility that this could be even worse (more industrial and higher) if deer fencing is deemed as not suitable due to crime risk. There will be a reduction or removal of wildlife habitat due to said fencing and the fields being filled with panels. This will seriously impact on deer, brown hare, ground nesting birds, barn owls and bats – of which we have many in the local area and beyond. I routinely see all of the above wildlife and I am concerned about how they are supposed to survive if their natural habitat is taken away. I am concerned about potential flooding risk. My property is one field away and we have experienced flooding recently which needed us to pump out our land. Spaldington already has a wind farm and an AD Plant. I am concerned about the cumulative impact and what else could be proposed for my immediate area and surrounding if it starts to become industrialised. I am also concerned about the increased risk of crime in my area as thieves are known to target solar farms. 40 years is NOT temporary. This needs to be more than about quotas. Thank you.