The Bigger Picture:

 

During 2022 there were about 900 proposed solar farm projects in the UK – an increase of over 30% on 2021. More than 300 had already been approved or were awaiting a decision of the relevant planning authority by the end of the year;

Research by the UCL Energy Institute demonstrates that there is potential solar capacity of:

    1. 60 GW on domestic rooftops;
    2. 40 GW on non-domestic rooftops;
    3. 10 GW over car parks.
    4. Even if only 75% of this total was achieved there would be no requirement for Utility-scale solar in the countryside. The solar industry itself predicts that supply will exceed demand in under 8 years.

Many communities up and down the country are having to fight opportunistic developers seeking to place large scale solar farms, often with even large battery storage facilities, on agricultural land close to villages.  This is pushing many MPs and others to call for a national planning strategy for large scale solar.

There are a number of key arguments which are constantly being raised:
  1. Food security;
  2. Preserving green spaces for the sake of the physical and mental well-being of residents and visitors - both now and in the future;
  3. Protecting nationally designated landscapes;
  4. Supporting the wider rural economy;
  5. Safety issues associated with large scale battery storage units;
  6. Relative inefficiency and higher carbon footprint of solar farms over other forms of renewables;
  7. The amount of brownfield land and industrial roof-space available for solar;
  8. ‘Greenwashing’ - using small biodiversity gains and spurious dual-farming claims to support financially exploitative industrialisation of the countryside;
  9. Stopping the undermining of the planning process by developers using social media to curry support for ‘green energy’ from non-locals with little information.

    10.  

Useful links:

National Press
 Click here for recent news articles etc

Action Groups
Solar Campaign Alliance
Say No to Sunnica Action Group
Save Old Malton Action Group

Public bodies
The Countryside Charity ‘CPRE’ – and their publication The Problem with Solar Farms
The Community Planning Alliance - currently assisting 632 grassroots campaigns to stop environmentally damaging developments
CPA Blog - Energy Infrastructure Unchecked
BRE and NFU Agricultural Good Practice Guidance for Solar Farms (note focus mainly on small sites or on former brownfield sites such as old airfields) 

Government/Planning rules:
National Planning Policy Framework
Government Planning Guidance on Renewables including Solar
Hansard report of debate in Parliament on 9 March 2022 on siting of large solar farms

Government’s Energy Security Strategy published April 2022
BEIS consultation on the decarbonisation of the energy sector

Hambleton Local Plan  - adopted February 2022
Hambleton Landscape Character assessment and Sensitivity Study 2016 (adopted by the new Hambleton Local Plan - Husthwaite is mainly in Character Area 23 - see page 126)
NYCC, NYM and York Joint Waste and Minerals Plan - approved February 2022