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Hard on the heels of Ashford's decision to refuse the 250 acre EDF solar generating station application in the parish, there was yesterday, an important Ministerial Statement from the Secretary of State. You can read it by following this link.
On first reading one might think that not very much has changed. The intended bias of the Planning Act2008 to allow huge solar generating stations on agricultural land to progress without undue delay remains in place - as it has done now for more than 15 years. However, when read in conjunction with the new National Policy Statement regarding solar farms, of January this year, the recent local planning authority solar scheme refusals and various Judicial Reviews (like Galloway) that have gone against the speculator applicants, there may be some hope for those of us who at one stage thought there was none.
In the Telegraph today there is piece which not only refers to the Statement but which flags up some of the ridiculous aspects of some field scale solar farm proposals. At last someone is commenting on the incongruous suggestion that the occasional grazing of sheep amongst and under panels represents a “95%continuation of agriculture” on land within the scheme. It may be a form of extensive livestock grazing but is a very poor use of good quality agricultural land – particularly in a world where we are being encouraged to eat less meat. There needs to be more honesty. These areas of land under panels are effectively going to be lost to food production for decades – and most likely forever.