Campaigners near a proposed solar energy farm said they were “shell-shocked” after the plan was approved by the secretary of state for energy.
Ed Miliband has given permission for the new £600million Sunnica solar farm on the border with Cambridgeshire-Suffolk to go ahead.
However, residents living near Isleham, Chippenham, Kennett and Snailwell have hit back at the proposals, describing the plans as “the industrialisation of the landscape”.
A spokesperson from the Department of Energy said the scheme would allow for the delivery of over 50 megawatts of renewable energy.
Ed Milliband has approved the plans (file pic)
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Catherine Judkins, who chairs the Say No to Sunnica action group, said villagers were “pretty shell-shocked”.
She told the BBC: “What’s really frustrating and why everyone is so angry is this seemingly rash decision goes against the expert advice of the [Planning Inspectorate] examiners.”
Their report concluded that the perceived benefits did not outweigh the “very many harms” and it should not be approved.
She added: “[There were] pledges Labour made throughout the election campaign on how food security is a matter of national security…This land is capable of growing high-value crops.”
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Residents in Isleham have hit back at the plans
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Chairman of Isleham Parish Council Richard Radcliffe said: “The decision has come like a bolt from the blue so early in this new Government’s tenure…the very long landscape views… will all disappear [under] solar panels which will take 15 years to be screened by the hedges they will plant.”
Newly elected Liberal Democrat MP for Ely and East Cambridgeshire Charlotte Cane has also expressed dismay at the approval. She told Cambridgeshire Live: “This vast Solar Farm marches through large swathes of my constituency. The examiner spent years carefully considering all the issues and all the representations.
“Every local authority affected spent years considering the application and its implications and all called for it to be rejected. With just one week’s consideration, the Secretary of State has decided that he knows better and has given permission.
“Green energy is vital and solar farms are key to meeting our net zero targets. But that must not mean that every solar farm application should get permission regardless of its impact on our food security, biodiversity, landscape character and our existing farming and horse racing businesses. I am shocked that the Secretary of State has overridden all advice to the contrary and given this scheme permission.”
A Department for Energy Security and Net Zero spokesperson said: “The project proposes the installation of solar photovoltaic generating panels and electrical battery storage technology on Sunnica East and Sunnica West, and associated infrastructure for connection to the national grid, including an extension to the Burwell National Grid Substation.
“The Scheme would allow for the delivery of over 50 megawatts of renewable energy.”
GB News has approached Sunnica for a comment.