Campaigners in East Yorkshire have announced the launch of a new umbrella group committed to opposing the development of solar farms across the region’s rural areas.
In recent months, four major proposals covering more than 10,000 acres of arable farmland have been announced, including the Kingfisher Solar Farm north of Beverley, which is believed to cover an area of about 2,250 acres. An initial non-statutory consultation period has been launched and will run to Sunday, March 9.
This is in addition to several smaller-scale projects already in the pipeline.
Opposition groups from across the area have since been campaigning to highlight what they say are the drawbacks of these proposals. This new campaign seeks to bring them under a single umbrella known as ERASE – East Riding Against Solar Expansion.
Campaign spokesman George McManus said: “We’re delighted to announce our new campaign group. Working collaboratively we believe we will achieve much more than working in isolation. We’re concerned that the Government is riding roughshod over our countryside and that these developments will destroy the unique character of the East Riding forever.
“We urge people to find out what’s happening because while the smaller projects will go through the normal planning process at County Hall in Beverley, decisions on the larger schemes will be made by central government in Whitehall. So people must raise any concerns with their MPs as well as councillors.”
Last year, National Farmers’ Union (NFU) president Tom Bradshaw said that individual solar farms did not risk national food security, but stressed that they should not be built on the “best and most versatile land”.
Chris Hewett, chief executive of Solar Energy UK, also said last year: “Solar farms take up a tiny fraction of the country, which will still be the case in 2035 when the Government expects us to have four times current solar generation capacity. They are no threat to food security – they never have been and never will be. In fact, it’s the opposite.
“According to Defra, the main threat to food security is climate change, which is what solar farms are there to fight. Furthermore, without solar farms, hundreds of traditional farming businesses would have gone to the wall, unable to produce food without the security of a reliable income.”
Supporters argue that solar farms are a vital part of the solution to the climate crisis, and that they are a temporary and reversible land use, unlike housing developments or industrial estates. The land beneath the panels can often still be used for grazing livestock.
A spokeswoman for the Hull and East Riding Green Party said they supported renewable energy, including solar panels. She said: “The economy of the East Riding must switch to a sustainable ‘green’ economy sooner rather than later. Hull and East Riding Green Party acknowledges that there may be suitable sites for solar farms which do not use arable farming land.
“However, solar is a good source of sustainable income for the area, and does not prevent animal grazing on solar farms. The climate crisis will only increase food shortages and therefore we must consider all options to mitigate this.”
However, Mr McManus said any benefits would be outweighed by the lasting impact of the developments. He added: “We hope that working with our partners across the county we can inform residents of the potential pitfalls which could impact for 50 years. These aren’t farms, they’re massive industrial areas. They will provide almost no local jobs or contracts for local supply chains as the solar panels are imported from China.”
A spokesman for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said: “Solar is at the heart of our mission to make Britain a clean-energy superpower and we have consented nearly 3GW of nationally significant solar projects since last July.
“Even in the most ambitious scenarios, solar would still occupy less than one per cent of the UK’s agricultural land – less than occupied by golf courses – while bringing huge benefits for the British public and our energy security. There are no hard targets for capacity in particular regions in place.
“It is important we take people with us and are considering ways to ensure communities who live near new clean-energy infrastructure can see the benefits of this.”
ERASE has a private group on Facebook at facebook.com/groups/495745176877861.