Light … or blight? Anger rises at plan for Britain’s biggest solar farm
A proposed new £600m solar farm in eastern England – covering an area eight times bigger than Hyde Park in central London – faces opposition over claims it would be a “blight” on the countryside.
The scheme, which would provide power for up to 100,000 homes, will cover nearly 2,800 acres near Newmarket, more than 10 times bigger than any scheme built to date in Britain. It is one of more than 900 solar farms in the planning pipeline to help provide green energy.
Campaigners say the Sunnica energy farm, which will span several villages in Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, will change the unique character of a vast area of countryside shaped by farming and horseracing. Suffolk county council said last week it would not support the scheme in its current form.
Richard Rout, deputy council leader and cabinet member for finance and environment, said: “We recognise that renewable energy is a key part of delivering energy security but it can’t come at any cost or to the detriment of Suffolk or the environment.”
John James, 74, who owns Brookside Stud, near Chippenham, Cambridgeshire, said: “The solar panels will blight several villages and take farmland out of production.” He was particularly concerned over the fire safety of the vast batteries that would be housed near his stud in containers up to six metres high.
Finlay Colville, head of research at Solar Media, a business intelligence and digital media firm, said there are now about 910 possible solar farm projects in the pipeline in the UK, with numbers increasing by about a third in 2021.
More than 300 have already submitted planning applications or have already been approved. Colville said some of the largest projects might not be delivered but there were also many smaller sites that
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