Cornwall has quickly become Britain’s new capital for solar farms and its rolling fields and winding streets are at risk of being replaced by seas of black glass brought in by greedy energy companies from abroad.
The south-west county already reportedly has 27,000 solar panels, more than anywhere else in Britain, and with many more planned under Ed Miliband’s green energy rollout, residents and councilors are growing increasingly frustrated.
Locals highlight the loss of productive and versatile agricultural land, the lack of job creation or any other significant benefit to the local economy and the industrialization of the countryside as reasons for rethinking.
The village of St Stephen, three miles from St Austell, which grew out of the 18th century clay industry and mining, has become a new battlefield.
Energy companies began buying up nearby farmland in a solar gold rush several years ago, hoping to capitalize on the village’s proximity to power lines.
Within a few years, seven sites consisting of thousands of panels had sprung up across the parish, and another had already been given permission for development.
Now 80% of the parish’s four square kilometers are within sight of a solar panel and French energy giant EDF is seeking permission for a 200-hectare solar farm just west of the village. If approved, a third generation tenant farmer will lose their livelihood.
Pictured in front of the affected farmland are (from left to right) Julie Floyd, Sally Blake, Rose Barnecut, Jacques Egbers, Andrea Feltham, Mark Blake, Mike Bulley.
Paramedic Mike Bulley, 39, lives next door to the proposed site and is concerned about the plans
The village of St. Stephen is earmarked for the next major solar farm
Rose Barnecut, whose family has farmed land near EDF’s proposed solar farm for four generations, described it as another kick in the teeth for farmers after the Labor government’s inheritance tax row.
She said: ‘It started off gradually, one small solar farm after another, and you accepted it, but then it becomes like dominoes and suddenly it’s right on your doorstep in an area that absolutely needs to be protected.
“It’s one of the best farms in the parish, very well managed by generations of tenant farmers who have been evicted.
‘Farmers are in such a difficult position that they cannot afford to fight against it and if they do not get compensation they will lose everything.
‘Everything you see around you is completely destroyed by this sea of black glass, without any benefit. At least before the clay industry we had jobs, this will bring no benefits and no jobs.
“The amount of wealth that has come from this area is incredible, it has paid its fair share and look how much wealth is left here, none. It is a large multinational coming into the poorer areas of Cornwall to make a profit and we are paying the price.’
Frustrated by a perceived lack of protection, residents formed the Stop Trelion Solar Farm campaign and are coordinating with other grassroots campaigns that have had success.
Signs and posters have been erected protesting the planned Trelion Solar Farm
Rose Barnecut’s family has been farming land near EDF’s proposed solar farm for four generations
According to her, it is another blow to farmers after the increase in inheritance taxes
Pictured (left to right) Rose Barnecut, Mike Bulley, Andrea Feltham, Julie Floyd, Mark Blake, Sally Blake, Jacques Egber
With many homes near the proposed site getting their water from boreholes, residents are alarmed by the risk of toxins in solar panels, including carcinogenic cadmium, contaminating groundwater.
Paramedic Mike Bulley, 39, who lives next door to the proposed site, said: ‘It is a concern, especially if you have a well and we plan to live here for a long time, so I want some more information on the cumulative effects, but if I asked them they had no information. That is a big concern.
‘There is so much game in the area that it will be seriously affected and even more game will be pushed onto busy roads.
“We are not NIMBYs, this is not just about this community, but what is happening is scary. We need to look at other options that don’t involve the loss of prime, versatile agricultural land.
Julie Floyd, 59, an accountant, added: ‘The area is a haven for wildlife and for them to have to cross that busy main road only to be confronted with a two-metre high fence completely disrupts the natural order of things.
‘The impact on nature is unacceptable. It’s just a great shame.’
A sign at the proposed site has encouraged people to register their objections to the planning application
Accountant Julie Floyd said the impact the solar farm would have on wildlife was ‘unacceptable’
Mike Bulley is concerned about the impact the solar park could have on the local water supply
And small business owner Mark Blake said: ‘It’s farcical that they’re doing this on a green field instead of an industrial estate. They are going to route the power cables from the green fields through the industrial area, which is actually baron because it is slightly more expensive.
“It should initially be built on the industrial brownfield site, where no one would complain. You can’t grow potatoes on tips, but you can set up solar farms.
‘This should never have reached the planning stage, but the reason EDF can do it is because Cornwall Council has no money to fight it.’
Campaigners have been heartened by the recent refusal of a near-identical site at Canworthy Water, near Launceston, where residents claimed the visual impact was too great and claimed Cornwall was being used as a ‘dumping ground’ for solar panels.
In August, Cornwall Council’s strategic planning committee voted 7-3 against the application. Local councilor Barry Jordan said the proposals were causing people “sleepless nights” and “anxiety”.
And the proposed 125,000-panel solar farm between Truro and Newquay has been likened to a ‘glass and concrete prison’ by locals.
More than a hundred concerned people, including farmers, attended a rally in March to voice their opposition. A decision is expected later this month.
A new report from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero confirmed that Cornwall has more solar energy production capacity than any other part of the country.
The report also stated that the south-west counties, Wiltshire and Somerset, ranked second and third in terms of capacity and generation.
Cllr. Nick Craker, chairman of the East Cornwall Planning Committee, said: ‘The new Labor government has given the green light to an explosion of large-scale solar projects.
80 percent of the parish’s four square kilometers are within sight of a solar panel
French energy giant EDF is seeking permission for a 200-hectare solar park just west of the village
Cornwall has more solar energy production capacity than any other part of the country
It is a new era in planning that will define our countryside for a generation.
‘The mood music of this new Labor government gives the green light for more and larger industrial solar parks in rural areas.
“The concern and anger arises when the big solar companies buy up large tracts of farmland, sometimes several farms at a time, and plaster acre after acre in panels.
‘Local communities regularly express concerns about the impact of large solar energy projects. With the panels often manufactured in China, and the industrialization of entire communities that were once productive agricultural land.”
At least 30 major solar energy projects are proposed across the province, potentially covering 16 square kilometers of agricultural land.
And Peter Connor, associate professor of renewable energy policy at the University of Exeter, predicted there would be more applications for solar farms and wind turbines in Cornwall.
He said: ‘Cornwall has a good source of sunshine; it is sunny here because we are in the south. It is windy because we cross into the Atlantic Ocean and get the first wind.
‘We don’t want the entire province to be covered. We must be careful to protect the natural beauty of the province. We don’t want to ruin the place where we live to make the world a better place.”