There is no guarantee the developer of a solar farm spanning miles of Nottinghamshire countryside will provide a \u00a31m fund to offset any impacts, councillors have been told.<\/p>\n
Renewable energy developer Elements Green is looking to build the Great North Road Solar and Biodiversity Park in an area north-west of Newark.<\/p>\n
Around 1.5 million solar panels would form a ring roughly 6.2 miles from north to south around the villages of Bathley, Caunton and Norwell.<\/p>\n
They would have the potential to power up to 400,000 homes \u2013 more than the entire number of domestic houses in Nottinghamshire.<\/p>\n
At a Newark and Sherwood District Council planning meeting on Thursday (4 December), the authority discussed its local impact report \u2013 which details specific and direct negative consequences of the scheme.<\/p>\n
To reduce the impact of the scheme, the developer has proposed creating an annual \u201ccirca \u00a31m community support scheme\u201d, under which projects benefiting the local community could be delivered.<\/p>\n
However, councillors were informed that, should the solar park be approved, there would be no obligation on the developer to provide the funding.<\/p>\n
Liberal Democrat councillor Keith Melton, who represents the Trent ward, said: \u201cWe should be dealing with this honestly. I am on record on a number of occasions talking about climate change; I recognise we do need to have renewable energy and there are fairly logical reasons for why it should be here.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy concern here is that we should be making sure the benefits come to the residents. I say that with respect to the promises they will donate \u00a31m per year.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do think we should be pressing for direct benefits to all residents who are impacted by this.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is very clear that we are not going to be able to act as a NIMBY (not in my back yard) council. It is going to be granted, there is no doubt about that.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a local council we should be making sure residents are compensated for the dislocation and displeasure of having these things throughout. It is going to change the nature of the land around us.\u201d<\/p>\n
A council officer said: \u201cThe applicant has put forward this \u2018energy-plus\u2019 community fund; it has an annual value of \u00a31m.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat sits outside the decision-making process. There is no way the decision could compel the applicant to deliver that.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing highly cynical, there is no guarantee of that figure that is being presented. It is subject to potential change. It is within the gift of the applicant and should be treated in that regard.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vice-chairperson of the planning committee, Cllr David Moore, added: \u201cWe would all like to see a cheque from them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Due to the size of the development, it is classified as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP).<\/p>\n
The law requires the applicant to apply for consent from the Government\u2019s Planning Inspectorate, rather than the local planning authority, Newark and Sherwood District Council.<\/p>\n
After a five-month examination period, the Secretary of State for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero will then make the final decision.<\/p>\n
Elements Green says construction could begin around 2027 if the application is approved.<\/p>\n
However, the district council can still submit documentation that will be considered, including its local impact report.<\/p>\n
A number of hearings have already taken place to discuss impacts, including those on the environment.<\/p>\n
The committee heard an open hearing, which members of the public could attend, was \u201cvery well attended\u201d.<\/p>\n
The council\u2019s local impact report notes the need for renewable energy development and the wider benefits that this brings, but it concludes \u201cthere are some specific and direct negative impacts associated with the proposed development, including landscape and visual impacts, leading to a marked change in the character of the area and the loss of best and most versatile agricultural land\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn addition, there are impacts around the potential loss of trees, other areas of potential impact, and areas of mitigation that require further development during the examination, so as to understand clearly the means by which more significant impacts associated with the proposed development will be suitably mitigated,\u201d the report adds.<\/p>\n
Cllr Sue Saddington (Con), who represents the Muskham ward, said: \u201cAs you look at this circle we are going to have all these shiny things all over the place.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur good agricultural land is going to be taken away.\u201d<\/p>\n
She further questioned the impact on the climate, including whether the panels themselves would be made in China and shipped over \u2013 with many solar panels currently made overseas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There is no guarantee the developer of a solar farm spanning miles of Nottinghamshire countryside will provide a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":173040,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[242,85,46,141],"class_list":["post-173039","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173039","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=173039"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173039\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/173040"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173039"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173039"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173039"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}