County Councillors are concerned that rural Lincolnshire is being seen as an easy target for large scale solar developments, and say local residents need to have their say on whether they progress.
The warning comes as yet another proposal has been made for another large solar development in Lincolnshire – this time near Stamford.
The Mallard Pass proposal from Windel Energy would see 880 hectares of land in South Kesteven and into Rutland utilised for solar power generation.
The county council is now aware of five such proposals in Lincolnshire, all utilising agricultural land. These proposals are all classed as Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects which means they will ultimately be decided by the Secretary of State.
Cllr Colin Davie, executive councillor for environment and strategic planning at Lincolnshire County Council, says: “Lincolnshire’s agricultural land has the capacity to make a significant contribution to the UK’s food security, so I will be asking developers to demonstrate the benefits and costs of their proposals in terms of the additional carbon output from the import of food that could have been produced on this land.
“It’s important that all local authorities, as consultees, make sure our resident’s views are heard about the plans as the scale and size of the proposals are truly enormous.”
Lincolnshire County Council expects to formally consider the proposals in Spring 2022.
More information about Mallard Pass can be found at www.mallardpasssolar.co.uk.
