Government announcements that applications for solar farms at Heckington Fen and the West Burton have been granted consent are another slap in the face for the county, according to a leading county councillor.
Colin Davie, executive councillor for environment, economy and planning at Lincolnshire County Council says adding two more giant solar farms to Lincolnshire’s countryside in the face of strong local opposition shows that the government has not listened to residents. He said: “These two developments add more than 1,000 hectares of solar parks to the county, bringing the total land now allocated for five approved developments to around 3,500 hectares. A further 6,400 hectares are also being proposed in Lincolnshire.
“Trashing the countryside and putting ginormous industrial developments on agricultural land has understandably caused much local outrage. On top of this, I have no confidence that these schemes help in any way to delivering the affordable energy that we need.
“Quite frankly these decisions are another slap in the face for Lincolnshire, and the government must start considering the cumulative impacts of all these proposals in our county. In our recent survey, residents have told us that they are very concerned about the impacts that so many Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects will have on Lincolnshire, and the effects on our nature, landscape and communities. They also told us that they – like us – consider rooftops and brownfield sites being the most appropriate places to install solar panels. We must stop the industrialisation of the Lincolnshire countryside.”
In December 2023 Lincolnshire County Council’s executive approved an energy infrastructure position statement outlining how the council will respond robustly to National Significant Infrastructure Projects like this, to protect agricultural land and prevent developments blighting the landscape.
