Solar farm 'the size of Beverley' is too big say Yorkshire village residents

Around 150 people attended a consultation in Hutton Cranswick over Danish multinational Ørsted's plans for a 320MW solar farm on 2,250 acres, one of four "mega" farms proposed for the East Riding.

About a third is farmed by tenant farmers, who are concerned their farms will be no longer be viable if they lose land.

Ørsted is proposing to use the same cable route as the consented Hornsea 4 Offshore Wind Farm, which it has developed. It will plug into the grid at the Cryeke Beck substation 15km away.

As a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project permission for the project will be decided by the government, rather than by the local council.

Jenny Appleby said the bridleway she uses with her horse Poirot would take her through the new solar farm: "I find it very upsetting," she said.

"We've already got one to the north east. What I see now is woodland, deer, buzzards, lots of wildlife, it's really pretty. I don't want to ride through tunnels of hedges through fields of glass."

A smaller solar farm of 250 acres, the 50MW Scurf Dyke scheme, was recently built on 250 acres to the east of Hutton Cranswick. Kelly Wilkinson lives near the farm, which was built 18 months ago.

She said she’d been led to believe no further land in the vicinity would be developed as it floods.

She said: "It was awful, we had pile drilling from seven in the morning till seven at night, six days a week.

"It's awful on your mental health, you can't get away from it. It is like looking out on a sea of metal, it's just surrounded by security fencing, it's an eyesore."

Stephen Burdick, from Lockington, said they'd moved to the countryside 11 years ago and was concerned about the impact on wildlife.

He's concerned about waterbirds coming into land at Tophill Low nature reserve and mistaking the sea of glass for water.

The reserve, which is owned and managed by Yorkshire Water, is a Site of Special Scientific Interest and attracts many waterbirds including geese, swans, shelducks, and terns.

As to ministers making the final decision, he said: "Our voices are not going to be heard. It's a huge worry."

A local farmer who attended a session at Lockington earlier this week said he hadn’t been able to get answers to questions about the height of the panels and who would maintain land drains, which aren’t under the control of the Internal Drainage Board.

“A lot of the land floods,” he said. “How far off the ground are they going to be?”

Randall Linfoot, Ørsted’s programme manager said they'd chosen the land for its suitability for a solar farm, the proximity of the already consented cable, and the willingness of landowners. The scheme would aim to improve the natural environment by at least 10 per cent.

He said: "We want to understand how people interact with the land.

"We have listened loud and clear that it's an important issue about the tenant farmers and we want to work with them and make sure they are treated right."

People can find out more at Cottingham Civic Hall on Friday February 28 from 3pm to 8pm.