West Berkshire solar panel scheme will halve income, tenant farmer says

Tenant farmer Steven Davies will be left with 30 acres after West Berkshire Council turns 75 acres into a solar farm

A farmer has claimed his income will be halved after plans to turn the land he has worked on since 1984 into a solar farm were approved.

West Berkshire Council voted to erect 60,000 panels on 75 acres (30 hectares) of its land near Grazeley.

The council-run site outside Reading will generate enough power to supply about 7,800 homes a year.

Tenant farmer Steven Davies said he would have to sell his herd of 100 cattle.

The 64-year-old said he would have to rely on rearing chicks for the free-range chicken industry instead, on the remaining 30 acres (12 hectares) of Bloomfield Hatch Farm he will be left with.

'Food security'

"What I object to is putting these solar panels on farmland, especially with the way food security is going with the situation in Ukraine," he said.

"I mean you can't grow food on roof tops, but you can put solar panels on them."

The authority anticipates work could start in September 2023, with the solar panels having a lifespan of 30 years.

Work on the solar farm, which the council said could power 7,800 homes, could begin in September 2023

The cost to build the West Berkshire Council-funded solar farm has increased by £2m from its original £10m estimate, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Carbon footprint

The council said a feasibility study found the solar farm would offset about 30% of its carbon footprint.

Councillor Steve Ardagh-Walter, member for the environment, previously said a new solar farm was a "statement of our intent towards achieving a carbon neutral district by 2030".

Mr Davies said his own carbon footprint would increase as he would have to travel to dispose of chicken waste which "once upon a time I used to spread upon the farmland".

"As for my income, I'll just have to think of something else, I'll just have to go contracting or something," he said.

The pedigree beef short horns on Bloomfield Hatch Farm will have to be sold to make way for the 60,000 solar panels, Mr Davies says