County Councillor Colin Davie has reacted to the government’s announcement that applications for both the Heckington Fen Solar Park and the West Burton Solar Project have been granted consent.
The decision was taken by the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero.
Cllr Davie, executive councillor for environment, economy and planning at Lincolnshire County Council, said:
“Adding two more giant solar farms to Lincolnshire’s countryside, which have strong local opposition, shows that this government has not listened to our residents. These two developments add more than 1,000 hectares of solar parks to the county, bringing the total land now allocated for five approved developments to around 3,500 hectares. A further 6,400 hectares are also being proposed in Lincolnshire.
“Trashing the countryside and putting enormous industrial developments on agricultural land has understandably caused much local outrage. On top of this, I have no confidence that these schemes help in any way to deliver the affordable energy that we need.
“Quite frankly, these decisions are another slap in the face for Lincolnshire, and the government must start considering the cumulative impacts of all these proposals in our county. In our recent survey, residents have told us that they are very concerned about the impacts that so many Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects will have on Lincolnshire, and the effects on our nature, landscape and communities. They also told us that they – like us – consider rooftops and brownfield sites the most appropriate places to install solar panels. We must stop the industrialisation of the Lincolnshire countryside.”
On 5 December 2023, Lincolnshire County Council’s executive approved an energy infrastructure position statement, which outlined how the council will respond robustly to Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects like this, to protect agricultural land and prevent developments from blighting the landscape.