Planning and regulations committee vocal in opposition to large proposed solar farm near Lincoln.
Fosse Green Energy is a proposed solar farm over 3,000 acres in size to be located near the villages of Thorpe on the Hill, Witham St Hughs, Haddington, Thurlby, Navenby, and Bassingham. A 10km cable corridor, connecting the site to a proposed new National Grid substation near Navenby, is also included in the application.
The project is made up of a ground-mounted solar photovoltaic generating station with battery storage, onsite substations and associated infrastructure. The developer states this will generate and export/import electricity in excess of 50MW at near zero carbon emissions over the lifetime of the project.
Cllr Danny Brookes, executive member for planning and environment, said: "Lincolnshire is facing a significant number of large-scale energy and infrastructure schemes, and it is becoming increasingly important that decision-makers fully recognise their combined short and long-term impacts.
"Each of these developments bring with them the loss of productive agricultural land and drastic changes to our rural landscape, and there is a real concern that the effects of these projects outweigh any of the benefits promised.
“If approved, this huge proposal would dominate the local landscape, and dwarf local communities who are passionately speaking out against the project.
“Most of these NSIP applications aren’t right for the area or our residents, and it’s an issue that goes beyond the colour of our rosettes. Councillors are speaking out against this industrialisation en masse, and committed to defending our productive agricultural land and rural communities way of life.
Cllr Marianne Overton, local division member for Bassingham and Welbourn, said: “This proposal would bring glass, steel and concrete to swallow up our good farmland on a huge scale, the size of a London Borough. And we are paying for it with among the highest electricity bills in the world, while hundreds of thousands of commercial roofs lie vacant.
“Under these plans, a number of residents in my ward wouldn’t be able to look out of their windows without seeing solar panels in every direction, that’s simply not right.
“I believe this is the biggest risk for our area and we need to stand up for it. I’ve already gathered over 1500 letters against this proposal from residents, and I know there’ll be many more to come before this application closes.”
Fosse Green Energy say that many factors had been considered in selecting the proposed location for the project, including the topography of the landscape; availability and location of a connection to the electricity system; and local planning and environmental factors including visual impact, biodiversity, agricultural land quality and land use, and flood risk.
The developers say that the design and development will take into consideration other proposals being brought forwards in the area, including for solar energy. They argue that solar projects are quick to construct and operate, meaning they will provide decarbonisation benefits at the earliest opportunity with minimal noise or air quality impacts during operation.
They also state that say they are exploring ways to provide local benefits from the proposed development, including funding towards improvements to existing community facilities, subsidised solar PV panels for community use and lower cost energy, provision of electrical vehicle charging points, grants for broadband and wider improvements, educational visits and wider education/apprenticeship opportunities.