By Cllr Greg Peck

Thousands of acres of Norfolk farmland are “under attack” from solar farm developers.

Kay Mason Billig, leader of Norfolk County Council, has called the plans a “creeping abuse” of the countryside and said the council should resist them.

She was speaking after energy companies unveiled separate plans to create the UK's largest two solar farms in Norfolk.

One of the developments, called High Grove, would cover 4,000 acres of land on five sites close to Dereham and Swaffham, on either side of the A47. The other, East Pye, would cover 2,700 acres on 34 fields surrounding several villages close to the A140 near Long Stratton.

Of course, we also have a large solar park proposed on the outskirts of Reepham and, although smaller than the two aforementioned schemes, I am strongly opposed to it.

I also fear it will be the first of many to be proposed in and around our area in the future, as the new government are changing the planning guidelines to make it easier for these, ever larger, schemes to be approved.

I fundamentally disagree with building these industrial structures on good-quality farmland. They should be on the top of buildings, especially large industrial buildings and warehouses.

The current planning guidelines (the National Planning Policy Framework) state that they should only be built on “poor-quality farmland”. Most of the farmland in our part of Norfolk doesn’t fall into that category, being mostly high-quality arable farmland.

We will need to produce more of our own food in the future. Once solar panels cover the land with concrete and plastic, it can never be returned to food production and effectively becomes a “brownfield site”.

Battery storage required for these sites is also problematic; being lithium they can self-ignite and once on fire the fire service have no way of putting them out and must let them burn.

Norfolk is not a place to be exploited by the government in its efforts to feed the power-hungry southeast, especially when local people will not even benefit from it.

Cllr Greg Peck, Norfolk County Council, Reepham Division
Tel: 07972 230282
Email: greg.peck.cllr@norfolk.gov.uk