Around 1,300 football pitches of solar farms on prime farming land, report finds
An area the size of 1,300 football pitches of prime agricultural land has been lost to solar farms, a new report has revealed.
CPRE, the countryside charity, has found that 59 per cent of England's largest operational solar farms are located on productive farmland, while almost a third cover the nation’s ‘best and most versatile’ (BMV) agricultural land.
Three operational solar farms – one Lincolnshire and two in Cambridgeshire – are located entirely on BMV farmland.
CPRE said the concentration of high-quality farmland in eastern England has created a corresponding cluster of applications to build mega solar farms.
This has been especially noticeable in North and East Yorkshire. In May, despite local objections, the Government granted permission for a solar farm the size of the city of Durham, to power 100,000 homes, to be built in the East Riding.
Now plans for a temporary solar farm - which would operate for 40 years and power the equivalent of 23,945 homes - have been revealed in Beverley.
CPRE is calling on the Government to set a target for at least 60 per cent of solar energy to come from rooftops, car parks and brownfield land, and ban ground-mounted solar on the highest quality farmland.
The charity’s campaigns lead Jackie Copley said the “analysis reveals a deeply concerning trend that threatens both rural landscapes and the UK's food supply”.
‘While there's common cause in achieving clean power, we must find solutions that unite rather than divide communities,” she explained
“The current approach, which has seen 59 per cent of mega solar farms built on productive farmland, is short-sighted and wasteful.
“We're needlessly sacrificing irreplaceable agricultural land when rooftops, car parks, and brownfield sites could deliver even greater amounts of energy.”
A government spokesperson said: “Solar is at the heart of our mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower.
“As of September last year, solar farms covered around 0.1 per cent of the total land area of the UK, while bringing huge benefits for the British public and our energy security.
“Projects are subject to a rigorous planning process. Wherever possible, developers should utilise brownfield, industrial or previously developed land.
“Where the development of agricultural land is shown to be necessary, lower-quality land should be preferred to higher-quality land.”