A Westcountry MP and Government minister has launched a withering attack on the "monstrous desecration" of the countryside being caused by huge solar energy farms.
Jeremy Browne, Liberal Democrat MP for Taunton Deane, said "massive" new arrays proposed in "beautiful areas of the Somerset countryside" are "ugly and brutal".
Mr Browne, a Home Office minister, is the most high-profile politician in the region to speak out against the renewable energy technology, which is dividing communities across the region.
Ministers last month pledged a crackdown on the proliferation of photovoltaic solar farms during a Commons debate where MPs from Somerset, Devon and Cornwall were the most outspoken critics.
The far South West has been targeted amid a solar energy "goldrush", prompted by once generous subsidies, with the solar array stretching across 75 acres of farm land at Diptford, near South Brent, Devon, among the most controversial.
Now Mr Browne has warned against a solar farm spread across 50 acres of open countryside near Bradford on Tone, close to Taunton.
He said: "The massive new solar farms being proposed represent the monstrous desecration of our local natural environment. In no normal sense can these accurately be described as solar 'farms' – they are the industrialisation of agricultural land.
"They are ugly and brutal, with fences and CCTV cameras surrounding the rows of huge solar panels. Once planning permission has been granted for these hideous constructions the original gentle countryside will be lost forever."
Mr Browne said he backed solar power generation, but said it would be more appropriate to fit panels on the thousands of new houses being built across Somerset and existing industrial buildings, such as the massive Morrison's distribution centre on the M5.
"But I do not support industrial-scale building of solar farms on existing agricultural land," he said.
"Taunton Deane Borough Council should not feel cowered into granting planning permission for applications to build solar farms. The developers who are pushing for construction on these sites have absolutely no interest in maintaining the beauty of the Taunton Deane countryside.
"This is not about being a 'Nimby' (not in my back yard) about new development. What matters is whether we have the right kind of development."
Mr Browne says he has written to officials at the Department for Energy and Climate Change urging them to alter guidance handed down to local planners.
In the Westminster Hall debate, Totnes Conservative MP Sarah Wollaston said the Diptford solar farm was an "industrialised desert" and cited 28 applications for large-scale solar submitted to South Hams council in Devon.
Sheryll Murray, Conservative MP for South East Cornwall, warned of the impact on her constituency's "beautiful landscape" which is a "prime attraction" to tourists.
The Government last week published new planning guidance encouraging large-scale ground-mounted solar farms to be built on previously developed land – rather than greenfield.
But the edict goes on to say the visual impact of well-planned developments "could be zero", which is likely to alarm some opponents.
The case for, by Merlin Hyman, chief executive of Regen SW.
In recent years, many of us have got a shock when our fuel bills jumped by hundreds of pounds – driven by rising gas prices. Most predictions are that energy costs will continue to rise as demand grows worldwide. Common sense tells us that we would do well to become less reliant on energy supplies from uncertain parts of the world. We are fortunate in the South West of England to be rich in renewable energy resources – the sun, wind, biomass and waves. Make the most of these and we will have more of our own sustainable energy supplies independent of volatile world markets. Over the past two years dramatic falls in the price of solar panels have led to many homes and businesses installing this technology. We have also seen the development of larger scale solar farms which can power thousands of homes. Regen SW's annual progress report shows that in the South West we now have over 1 Gigawatt of renewable energy capacity in the South West of which solar is now the largest source. We also have 10,000 people employed in the renewable energy sector. This should be just the start. However, it is critical we develop renewable energy in the right way. We need a robust planning system that ensures we develop the huge opportunity of renewable energy in a way that has the minimum impact. Two years ago Regen published guidance on solar parks setting out, for example, how they needed to be carefully located and not be sited on high quality agricultural land. We also need to ensure local communities can share in and benefit from these new energy technologies. Get this right and renewable energy can be at the heart our future prosperity.
The case against, by Claire Norman, senior press officer of the Campaign to Protect Rural England
The Campaign to Protect Rural England believes that, while we need to generate more energy from renewable sources, any infrastructure should be developed and located in a way that is sensitive to the character of the countryside. We are aware of the growing concern, particularly in the South West, that this is not always happening with solar energy installations. Commercial solar farms are by definition very extensive, and necessarily industrial in character. The sheer scale and "alien" appearance of solar farms can have a very obtrusive impact on landscape, which is why people rightly question their appropriateness. We cannot afford to take valuable agricultural land out of use by sacrificing it for solar farms; they should not be located on the best and most versatile agricultural land. The National Farmers Union have argued that fertile land "produces significantly more crops per acre than other land and it seems an odd tactic to take excellent farming land out of production at a time when food prices are going up". With intelligent planning, however, it is possible to mitigate the visual impact of solar farms. For example, screening (and softening) in the form of hedges or tree belts, appropriate to local landscape character, should be designed to reduce visual impact. At the outset, proposals should take account of detailed assessments of the effects on biodiversity, hydrology, archaeology and landscape, as well as possible cumulative effects. Brownfield, or previously developed sites, should be preferred to greenfield sites for the siting of large scale solar developments, and this should be made clear in planning policy. Our new charter to save the countryside calls for a planning system which is able to save our countryside from inappropriate development. Signing our charter will encourage decision-makers to give it the best possible protection from large-scale solar farms to ugly, intrusive and unwanted development of any kind. For more details see www.saveourcountryside.org.uk
