Plans for solar farm as big as 144 football pitches met with mixed response
1st November 2024
Plans to build a solar farm as big as 144 football pitches on top-quality farmland in Lincolnshire have met with mixed responses from local residents.
The solar farm would be built between Sleaford and Boston, covering 77 hectares of land near Little Hale Fen, south of the A17.
Applicant AGR Solar 3 Ltd stated that the scheme would have been able to power 13,930 homes.
However, local planning officers are not satisfied and said that the farm should not be built on top-quality farmland.
The application has also attracted a mixed response from residents.
Some of them objected to the plans as the solar farm would be located too close to their homes, only 100 metres away, as well as it would take away productive farmland.
Others are in favour of the development, saying it would produce renewable energy and it was much smaller than other solar farms proposed in the area.
Loss of agricultural production
Local media has reported that council officers have recommended that the plans be turned down at the committee meeting that is set to take place on Tuesday, 5th November.
A report published ahead of the meeting says there is no reason that the solar farm should be almost entirely built on the best quality farmland.
It also reads that the proposed 40-year period of operation “is a significant one in the context of the loss of agricultural production” and sheep grazing “is unlikely to make up for the loss of arable production on this farm”, according to Lincolnshire Live.
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