How many other absentee landowners are willing to sacrifice farmland for solar subsidy? - Yorkshire Post Letters
From: Roger Backhouse, Orchard Road, Upper Poppleton, York.
Re: Family left shocked by decision on solar farm (TYP, Feb 28).
I was surprised and shocked that an Inspector overruled North Yorkshire County Council by allowing a massive array of solar panels on the farm tenanted by Rob and Emma Sturdy. My sympathies are with them.
Good farmland is precious and should be treated as such. It is a tragedy that the Government fails to see this and a disgrace that the Fitzwilliam Estate chose to support a solar array on its land. How many other absentee landowners are willing to sacrifice farmland for solar subsidy? I fear many are.
Whilst I support reducing carbon emissions there is much more that could be done to install solar panels on existing buildings. Comparatively few houses have them, but they are almost guaranteed to provide savings on energy costs which go directly to the householder.
With panels on the west facing roof here I reckon that savings have amounted to at least £300 a year plus larger payments for feeding surplus electricity to the grid.
I recommend readers to investigate having used Green Building Renewables as the supplier after a mention in The Yorkshire Post. Installing panels was a good investment.