An application has been submitted to Babergh District Council, Suffolk for a 65 acre SOLAR FARM on Roger's Farm, Newton Green, Suffolk.
This site forms part of The Box Valley, Dedham Vale - an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and lies within metres of an SSSI (Protected) Woodland.
Moving Mountains is NOT OPPOSED to RENEWABLE ENERGY FARMS - BUT we share the view of Greg Barker MP (Minister of State for Climate Change and MP for Bexhill and Battle):
"I share the concerns of the public about the potential growth of large-scale solar farms in areas of attractive countryside that have a significant detrimental impact on the landscape…. Local planners should be clear that we do not wish to encourage large scale solar farms in inappropriate locations."
On 29th July 2013, The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) issued guidance that was supposed to give greater community say on Wind Turbines and Solar Farms.
You can read the full PRESS RELEASE regarding this GUIDANCE here
You can access the FULL GUIDANCE DOCUMENT issued by The Department for Communities and Local Government here
There is are excellent articles about these guidelines, courtesy of Solar Power Portal here and Resource Media here
There is are excellent articles about these guidelines, courtesy of Solar Power Portal here and Resource Media here
These GUIDELINES certainly do not appear to have been followed in the case of this SOLAR FARM.
It is our understanding, that following a local advert on 5th September 2013 (which was misleading, stating that the farm would have a 5MW capacity, when in fact it is 15MW, covering an area the size of 37 football pitches), there has been NO exhibition or consultation and the residents of Newton Green and Edwardstone have had no correspondence regarding the proposed solar farm.
The Sudbury Mercury has provided excellent coverage of developments regarding the proposals.
You can read their latest article from 6th February 2014 here
Babergh District Council have advised that an on-line petition created by local residents is not admissible, as it is not in the correct format. However since it appears that the villagers and rural communities have had no guidance from ANYONE regarding methods of consultation, we FIRMLY RECOMMEND that everyone continues to add to the 700+ signatures that have already been obtained within a week.
There is a tight deadline here, since the proposal is due to return to the committee on 19th February 2014, after a site visit, this coming week.
This looks like a TEST CASE for application of the DCLG Guidelines, and should therefore concern ALL lovers of NATURE, AONBs and unspoiled countryside ACROSS THE UK. Please therefore get involved NOW:
1. ALL sign the petition here
3. Using the information and resources above, write to Babergh District Council yourselves to make sure that a DANGEROUS PRECEDENT is not set in this beautiful Constable Suffolk landscape!!
Contact details for the Babergh District Council Planning Policy Team can be found here. Remember the deadline is 19th February 2014.
We shall be including renewable energy companies within our Local Nature Networks. This campaign is certainly not against those companies.
We have a great opportunity to use technology to protect our planet. But we cannot disregard Mother Nature as part of this process. Greg Parker MP is right! We need to consider carefully where energy farms are built.
In this regard, we should ALL take a look at the buildings, new houses and disused sites of low value to biodiversity that we pass on our journeys. Imagine if they all had solar panels!!
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