Campaigners urge residents near Beverley to join solar ‘factory’ meeting
Campaigners are urging people to attend events to learn more about “outrageous” plans for two more solar “factories” near Beverley.
Clean Air Solar’s project – East Yorkshire’s fourth “mega” solar farm, is divided into two areas.
The southern covers farmland close to the grid connection with the new Wanlass Beck substation, which is an extension to Creyke Beck sub station, southwest of Beverley, and comes with a Battery Energy Storage System.
The northern near Hutton Cranswick – consulted on as Kingfisher Solar last year – brings the total acreage to 2,853 acres of land – roughly double the size of Beverley.
All operational areas would be fenced in and covered by “internal facing” CCTV.
Clean Air Action Group handed out 1,500 leaflets in Beverley at the weekend. Chair David Hume said many people “expressed horror at the prospect of the town being surrounded by such industrialised sized solar factories”.
Mr Hume said people were worried about taking high-quality land out of agriculture.
“The latest proposals were the “last straw on top of all the other major energy projects around Beverley such as the two Dogger Bank and Hornsea offshore wind farm cabling routes".
Thousands of acres to the east of Beverley, from Tickton towards Long Riston and south towards Wawne, are also slated for solar development.
The campaign group is inviting people to a drop in at the Ferguson Fawsitt pub in Walkington from 7pm to 9.30pm on Thursday.
It comes ahead of public information sessions being held by the developers, Perigus Energy and PS Renewables, at Lockington Village Hall on June 22, from 3pm to 7pm; Beverley Memorial Hall, June 23, 3pm to 7pm and Walkington Village Hall on June 24, 3pm to 7pm.
Mr Hume believes once the farmland is converted for solar, it will never return to agriculture. He said: “We want as many people as possible to attend.”