West Burton – Representation Comments:
- This application is just 1 of 4 (currently) within a few miles of each other. The total area would amount to around 10,000 acres. These 4 projects, at present, are all going to be submitted and accessed individually. Surely it would better that they be assessed as a whole. The impact of one project is far different than that of the impact of 4.
- Why are the sites where land is unused and does not affect anyone but are not being considered, for example moorland? This raises a number of concerns/issues:
- The land in question is viable agricultural land. Food producing land will be lost.
- The proposed project will encompass the hamlets within the proposed area. With the boundary of some areas of the project being close to residential property.
- The affect this will have on jobs and skills within the farming industry.
- The proposed solar panels are an unprecedented 4.5m high. These structures will not be able to blend into the landscape but dominate 3,000 acres of land.
- The combined construction time would be 4 years when combined with the other 3 projects. This will undoubtedly cause disruption in and around the proposed site, increased works traffic; mental health issues/wellbeing issues for residents and visitors to the area and will natural habitats and wildlife are affected. These projects will destroy not only the countryside but also the way of life of the people who inhabit the villages that these farms are going to engulf.
- Solar panels are inefficient and a poor use of the land. We were given figures of around 27% efficient, which is a low level of energy gained.
Surely these would be more effective covering the vast amount of commercial and domestic roof space where it can directly help with energy costs as opposed to inefficiently covering farmland. The options should be exhausted before farmed land is used. It is clearly motivated by profit under the guise of Green Energy.
- Were important factors such as panel height, glare, battery storage, generation capabilities, flood risk and brownfield site use accurately communicated.
- The solar panels and precious minerals are to be sourced and manufactured abroad in (China and others) and the construction labour sourced outside (and if world news reports are to be believed under dubious conditions) of the area.
- This begs the question as to whether this is an ethically sound proposal. Will the human rights of these overseas workers be respected and checked upon?
- The distance from the Grid connection is excessive and further ecological disruption would be caused by the unnecessary civil works involved in the cable connections.
- The Scheme comprises a number of land parcels; West Burton 1, covering 90 hectares, West Burton 2, covering 328 hectares, West Burton 3, covering 370 hectares and West Burton 4, covering 247 hectares. The total area covered by these sites is 1,035 hectares (2,484 acres) and all is currently used as arable farmland.
This would suggest/show that the land has been chosen by availability as opposed to suitability and therefore has the project been planned well and has the wildlife and environment really been considered.