Derbyshire County Council has voted by a majority to oppose the development of large-scale solar-panel farms and battery energy storage systems on greenfield sites in the county in what it claims is a bid to protect the area’s countryside and food security.
Council Leader Alan Graves’ motion was approved during the Reform UK-led authority’s Full Council meeting at County Hall, on October 8, despite claims solar farms and battery energy storage sites serve to meet Net Zero targets by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and that they increase energy security and will support economic growth.
Cllr Graves said: “We are clear as a council that rural Derbyshire will not stand idly by whilst good, usable agricultural land is sacrificed at the altar of Net Zero and turned into a Chinese manufactured eco desert.
“These plans are going to tear up the landscape of Derbyshire and change its very character. We are extremely worried that the views of residents and parish councils are being totally disregarded in favour of advancing the ruinous Net Zero agenda.
“Whilst we do not have the planning authority for these applications, we hope today’s motion sends a strong message to local district councils, MPs and the Government.”
The Labour Government supports the expansion of solar power in its bid to achieve clean energy by 2030 and it also supports battery energy storage schemes which store excess electricity from renewable sources for later use as part of efforts to establish a decarbonised electricity grid and energy security.
It argues that such schemes support Net Zero targets by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and that they increase energy security and will support economic growth.
However, Cllr Graves has expressed particular concerns for four planning applications currently being considered by South Derbyshire District Council mainly on agricultural land including Oaklands Farm Solar Park, between Rosliston and Walton-on-Trent, a Stenson Lane BESS, near Stenson, and an Eggington BESS and a solar and BESS scheme at Arleston Manor Farm, near Derby.
He also highlighted an approved scheme at Park Road, Overseal, Swadlincote, for a battery energy storage system facility.
Cllr Graves argued such developments have implications for the wider county, including visual impact, traffic movements, land use change, and community cohesion.
He told the meeting the county council is under attack from Net Zero schemes and that battery energy storage systems on farmland disrupt wildlife corridors and threaten future food security with the loss of agricultural land.
Cllr Graves also stated the materials used for such schemes were being made in China and would have to be shipped halfway around the world to Derbyshire.
He added Britain needs energy security but not at the expense of food security and that South Derbyshire is expected to carry a ‘disproportionate burden’ and if these kind of schemes go-ahead they will destroy the very countryside the council aims to protect.
Cllr Graves stated: “The Government obsession with Net Zero should never be delivered in a way that disrespects local communities, negatively impacts productive farmland, and over industrialises the countryside.
“Agricultural land serves one purpose only and that is for farmers to produce food and enhance Britain’s food security. Rural Derbyshire should not become home to Chinese manufactured eco-deserts.
“The cumulative impact of multiple large-scale energy projects in South Derbyshire risks undermining public confidence in the planning system and places disproportionate pressure on one district.”
Conservative Cllr Alex Dale also argued that even though such schemes are supposed to be using low-quality agricultural land this kind of land can still be an important part of the food chain.
The Conservative Group Leader successfully called for an amendment to Cllr Graves’ original motion to protect South Derbyshire so the council’s position would include the whole of the county which was agreed to by the council leader.
Cllr Dale said: “We have to be able to feed our population and therefore I think even with low quality land this should not be happening.”
However, Green Party Cllr Gez Kinsella opposed and criticised Cllr Graves’ motion as ‘ill thought out’ and ‘problematic’ and he claimed that the Council for the Preservation of Rural England and the National Farm Union are eager to protect high-grade farmland from solar farms but are less concerned about the use of low-grade farmland.
Cllr Kinsella also claimed that the NFU has stated that the amount of agricultural land to be used for solar farms is ‘small’ so the schemes will not be a threat to food security.
He said: “I have every confidence in South Derbyshire [District] Council making the right decision on behalf of their residents without the intervention of Derbyshire County Council and the Reform Party.”
Cllr Kinsella said roof tops and brownfield sites should be used for solar energy as well as any agricultural land where it is least productive and of low quality.
Reform UK Cllr Charlotte Hill argued solar parks should only be used on industrial estates instead of scarring the countryside, and fellow Reform Cllr Jodie Brown said contamination from solar parks means it would take ages to return the land back to agricultural use while Reform Cllr Joseph Turrell said the council needs to push back back against ‘Net Zero fanatics’.
Cllr Hill said: “As a Reform councillor, I campaigned to protect rural south Derbyshire and protect the countryside that I grew up in for future generations. It’s painful to see the scars this rampage towards Net Zero will leave behind on green belt land.”
Conservative Cllr Martyn Ford also said that despite being continually challenged over climate change the council has to do sensible things with policy that does not compromise the environment at any cost.
The council voted by a majority in favour to record its opposition to the development of large-scale solar farms and battery energy storage systems on greenfield sites in Derbyshire and to make its position known to South Derbyshire District Council, local MPs, and the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero.
It also resolved to express solidarity with local residents and parish councils who have raised concerns about the impact of these proposals.
