Councillor campaigns to limit solar farm numbers

A COUNCILLOR wants to limit the number of solar farms being built in the countryside.

Caroline Newton is concerned about the cumulative impact of “light industrialisation” of rural areas.

She represents Haseley Brook ward on South Oxfordshire District Council, which is the planning authority but does not have a specific policy on solar farms as they are a relatively recent development.

The council is currently considering an application by Solar 2 to build a solar PV array on 83 hectares of land either side of the M40 in Lewknor parish.

The company says this would help the country reach the Government’s target of net zero by 2050 by increasing energy production from renewable sources.

But Caroline Newton said development would cover more than 10 per cent of the parish, which is in her ward, and would particularly affect the village of Postcombe.

She said: “It is one of a series of solar farms in this part of Oxfordshire which have either already been permitted or are under consideration.

“The district council currently has no policies on solar farms, such as how many and how densely they are packed in, because they are a relatively recent phenomena and weren’t a thing when the officers were preparing the previous local plan.” She is concerned that South Oxfordshire will be expected to support the expansion of renewable energy sources but most of her ward isn’t in the green belt or Chilterns Araa of Outstanding Natural Beauty so has less protection from development.

Councillor Newton, a Conservative who lives in Britwell Salome, said: “There are lots [of solar farms] in my ward because we have relatively good access to the National Grid and there is some capacity in the area to take more.

“The concern from me and residents is the cumulative impact of light industrialisation in the countryside.”

Last month she succeeded in having a motion passed by the district council despite criticism by Labour, Liberal Democrat, Green and Henley Residents Group councillors.

The motion resolved to ask council officers to consider the cumulative impact of solar farm development during the planning process and to accelerate work on policies relating to solar energy generation, including limiting “excessive massing” of solar farms in any one area.

Cllr Newton said: “My concern is that planners in their next policy will put them in these areas because there is no protection and that they won’t seek to limit how many. The development policy would regulate how big a farm can be, where it would go and how to create a system of regulation.

“It goes under the category of light industrial. Nothing else of this scale would be permitted in such an agricultural area but there are no policies when it comes to solar farms.

“These so-called temporary structures would last 30 years and would massively change the landscape and take away agricultural land when food security is an important topic now.

“The parish councils in my ward talk about the subject frequently and one has drafted a petition to the district council to look at the cumulative impact.

“A resident got in touch with me to say there would be 3m of solar panels right outside her window in what used to be rolling countryside.

“There is no particular benefit to villages with solar farms in their patch. Perhaps they would accept development if they got benefits but other than the general benefit of cleaner energy, there are none.

“People recognise the need to create clean energy and reduce energy consumption but there are so many solar farms — in my ward, they cover hundreds of hectares.

“There is also no question that they change the landscape. I want the district council to recognise that these farms have a big visual impact as well as an impact on food production.”

Her motion was passed with the support of her fellow Conservatives while the Green and Lib-Dem councillors, who are part of the council’s ruling coalition, abstained and the rest voted against it.

Cllr Newton said she was surprised by the opposition to her proposal.

She said: “I thought it was quite a moderate measure. Those opposed were very explicit that while we have a climate crisis, they didn’t want a limit on the number of solar farms in the district and thought there was enough control already.

“The fact is you need policies in local development plans. I am pleased that the motion was passed, which means that the officers drawing up the next local plan will look at policies limiting the concentration of solar farms.”

Councillor Kellie Hinton, who represents the Henley Residents Group on the district council, voted against Cllr Newton’s motion, accusing her of “electioneering”.

She said: “The proposal was not a bad one. We want more green energy but we should always investigate other ways that take up less space in the countryside.

“However, I think that under the administration of the last four years there are already similar procedures and regulations in place.”