'They'll cut bills': Ed Miliband defends explosion of solar farms in Yorkshire

Mr Miliband was speaking to The Yorkshire Post from a clean energy jobs fair at Barnsley College to mark National Apprenticeship Week.

The Doncaster North MP said it was “great to see the excitement” of the 175 students in attendance, and explained that net zero is “about these good jobs of the future”.

He claimed that this would provide 20,000 new jobs across Yorkshire and the Humber by 2030.

Mr Miliband defended the significant increase in the renewable infrastructure proposals in Yorkshire, which has been a popular location due to its terrain and access to the grid.

More than 300 solar farms are currently in the planning pipeline across the region, with the 3,500-acre Whitestone Solar Farm in Conisburgh, South Yorkshire, on green belt land which is attracting the ire of a number of Mr Miliband’s local Labour colleagues.

Both York and North Yorkshire Mayor David Skaith and Selby MP Keir Mather have opposed the Light Valley Solar project (LVS), which will be formed of seven separate farms between York and Selby.

Read Ralph Blackburn’s Yorkshire Post politics newsletter

Mr Mather said he objected to the size of the project, with much of the designated land being classified as ‘best and most versatile’ for food production.

Saudi-backed developers have proposed controversial plans to build an industrial-scale wind farm on Walshaw Moor — thought to be the inspiration for Wuthering Heights.

While Mr Miliband was unable to talk about specific projects, as he may have a quasi-judicial role in the planning process as Secretary of State, he said he wanted to "reassure" readers of this paper around food security.

“The planning rules we operate under seek to avoid the best agricultural land and prioritise other land,” he explained.

“And the truth is that even on the most ambitious plans for solar, it's something like 0.4 per cent of BMV land that we'd be using.”

Mr Miliband explained that in the recent clean energy auction, solar power was being supplied at less than half the cost of new gas projects.

“The biggest threat to the countryside is the climate crisis,” he said.

“I totally understand that local people will have their views on this, but I do think it's the right thing to do to build this clean energy, to cut bills and give us energy security.”

However, South Yorkshire’s Labour Mayor Oliver Coppard said he was “not confident” that people in his region are feeling the benefit of these renewable developments.

“I think some of the big solar farm projects are not giving enough benefit back to those communities,” he said.

“They are massive, the Whitestone Solar Farm is huge, and I’m not convinced yet that that benefit is accruing to our local community.

“People will be impacted by that, they will lose green space and aren’t necessarily going to see the benefits.”

Responding to this, Mr Miliband cited the £1bn plan he announced earlier in the week to give community ownership of certain renewable projects, but he added: “I recognise that we need to be doing more.”