Solar farms are 'slap in the face' - councillor

Ecotricity says it will allow sheep to graze under the solar panels at Heckington Fen

A senior Lincolnshire councillor has described a decision to give the go-ahead to two large solar farms as a "slap in the face" for the county.

Colin Davie made the comments following the announcement that applications for both the Heckington Fen Solar Park and the West Burton Solar Project have been granted development consent by the government.

Heckington Fen, to the south of the county, which is being developed by Ecotricity, will generate enough power for more than 100,000 homes, according to developers.

The West Burton project, which will straddle the Lincolnshire Nottinghamshire border, is approximately the same size and will use 788 hectares of land across three sites.

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband

Davie, executive councillor for environment, economy and planning at Lincolnshire County Council, said: "Adding two more giant solar farms to Lincolnshire's countryside, which have strong local opposition, shows that this government has not listened to our residents.

"These two developments add more than 1,000 hectares of solar parks to the county, bringing the total land now allocated for five approved developments to around 3,500 hectares. A further 6,400 hectares are also being proposed in Lincolnshire."

Davie said "trashing the countryside" by putting "ginormous industrial developments" on agricultural land had "caused much local outrage".

He added: "Quite frankly these decisions are another slap in the face for Lincolnshire, and the government must start considering the cumulative impacts of all these proposals in our county."

The sizes of the Heckington and West Burton solar proposals meant they were deemed as National Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs).

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, who has the final say on such proposals, launched a 'solar task force' last autumn in order to accelerate solar farm applications.

In Lincolnshire, solar farm projects continue to attract opposition from several groups.

The 7000 Acres Group says it is "fighting to protect the countryside from mass industrialisation".

Campaigners against the Lincolnshire's Springwell Solar Farm which awaits a decision

There are at least seven other large NSIPS in the planning pipeline for Lincolnshire.

If they are all approved they will cover more than 30,000 acres of land, according to developers' planning documents.

The government believes that solar energy offers a significant contribution way of "decarbonising the grid" and reducing the UK's reliance on fossil fuels.

But in several rural communities the opposition to the solar industry looks likely to escalate.

In a statement, Dale Vince OBE, founder of Ecotricity, said: "We're delighted that Ecotricity has been granted permission for this major green energy project that will help the country reach its net zero target and create hundreds of jobs.

"There will also be a significant biodiversity boost across the site."

Developers behind the West Burton project have also been approached by the BBC for comment.