Tenant farmers concede defeat in battle against solar farm
Tenant farmers battling a proposal to develop a solar farm across land their family has worked for generations say they have “conceded defeat” following a High Court ruling.
Judge Mark Ockleton has ruled there was “no arguable basis” for concluding Housing minister Matthew Pennycook, acting on behalf of the now former Secretary of State for Housing Angela Rayner, had made any error in law in granting Harmony Energy’s appeal over developing 130 acres of the 280-acre Eden Farm in Old Malton, earlier this year.
North Yorkshire Council had rejected the Knaresborough-based firm's application for the solar farm in 2023, before the proposal was examined at a public inquiry.
Farmers Rob and Emma Sturdy had argued the development would see them lose 42 per cent of their land, which their family has leased from the Fitzwilliam Trust Corporation's estate and spent time, money and energy improving for three generations.
The Sturdys said following the minister’s decision, the landlord and developer had told the family they would not honour an offer to pay compensation. The couple said they had been left with “little choice but to apply to the High Court for permission to challenge the government’s decision”.
They said: “We knew the odds were against us, but we had hoped that the High Court of Justice would recognise the unfairness and injustice of the minister’s decision. This marks the end of our legal challenge against the planning permission. Our planning arguments were very strong but when you’re battling a system and a government which puts net zero targets above all else, David’s chances of defeating Goliath are very limited.” The couple are now focusing on securing “fair compensation for our losses” in accordance with the government’s Solar Roadmap and to work with our landlord “to protect what remains of our future at Eden Farm”. They said: “Our experience highlights the urgent need for the government to review and reform statutory compensation laws in relation to the 1986 Agricultural Holdings Act. The government claim to accept that farming families like ours deserve fair treatment when losing land to renewable energy projects, yet they have chosen not to uphold that principle in our case.”
Tenant Farmers’ Association chief executive George Dunn said the outcome of the judicial review had been the culmination of a set of catastrophic failures of the planning system and of the safeguards that should be in place to protect tenant farmers. He said: “The only bit of the planning system that got this right was North Yorkshire Council which refused consent for the solar scheme when it was first considered by its planning committee, not least due to the impact on the farm business of the Sturdys in view of the loss of nearly half their land to the scheme.
A Harmony Energy spokesperson said its priority was to deliver projects that contribute to a sustainable, homegrown energy system for the UK. He added: “This site has been developed in line with planning policy and law, with independent assessments confirming it as a highly suitable location.”