The 75-year-old artist, who owns a £3m home and studio at West Acre, near Swaffham, has lodged a formal objection to the Droves renewable energy scheme, which would cover 2,800 acres of nearby fields in solar panels.
Sir Antony Gormley (Image: Ben Birchall / Press Association)
He and his wife – fellow artist Vicken Parsons – have both registered to have their say during hearings to determine whether the project should go ahead.
In his representation, Sir Antony – who is best known for his monumental Angel of the North sculpture near Gateshead – said: “The idea of putting one of the largest solar arrays in the country here feels cruel and destructive beyond belief.
“It is hard for us to imagine somewhere less suitable for this massive industrial development – including the huge battery storage complex – than here.”
High House at West Acre (Image: Strutt and Parker)
The project is a major part of the government’s net zero ambitions and Sir Antony could lay himself open to charges of hypocrisy in his opposition to the renewable scheme.
He has previously donated to Labour and the Green party and has been a high profile voice warning of the need to take action against climate change.
Sir Antony has previously spoken of his concerns about the environment and desire to minimise his own carbon footprint.
His artwork has also explored the issue, including a snowman ice sculpture he carved in the Arctic as part of a project with nine other artists to raise awareness of climate change.
He was also among artists who urged London’s National Portrait Gallery to end its sponsorship with oil company BP, given the company’s “role in furthering the climate crisis”.
Proposals for the Droves Solar Farm (Image: Island Green Power)
In his opposition letter, he added: “We are passionate supporters of the necessary transition that our society must urgently make from fossil fuels to green energy sources.
“We recognise the climate emergency and have made many steps in our own lives to reduce our carbon footprint.
“We also believe that solar is an integral part of the blend of sustainable energy sources that the UK will need to develop in the coming years, but we cannot be convinced that this proposal represents anything but a profit grab at the cost of a special and much-loved area of farmland, fields, woods and lanes.”
Castle Acre (Image: Mike Page)
He said calling the development a solar farm was “a misnomer”, adding: “This is an 839-hectare industrial development of aluminium, steel, glass, silicon and concrete where now there are open fields and woodland.”
Sir Antony, knighted for services to art in 2014, said farmland which could be used to produce food should not be lost so organisations could “profit from land”.
He and Parsons bought High House, an 18th century Palladian-style villa in 2010.
The site is used as a studio by the couple and other artists, who form part of a wider community who have been described as Norfolk’s ‘Artocracy’.
The couple split their time between West Acre and a home in a converted gas holder in London, but a number of Sir Antony’s installations have been displayed in Norfolk.
In 2024, a hundred of his life-size cast iron figures were placed across Houghton Hall in his Time Horizon exhibition.
Sir Antony Gormley’s life-size cast figures were displayed on buildings at the UEA (Image: Kate Wolstenholme)
And in 2017, a number of his figures were placed on buildings at the University of East Anglia as part of an exhibition by the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts.
Sir Antony Gormley’s Angel of the North (Image: Owen Humphreys / Press Association)
He and his wife are among more than 60 people and organisations who have registered to make representations during open hearings into the Droves proposals.
Other organisations and individuals who have registered to have their say include Breckland District Council, which says it has “significant unresolved concerns” about the project and Norfolk County Council which “strongly opposes” the proposal.
George Freeman, Conservative MP for Mid Norfolk and his party colleague James Wild, MP for North West Norfolk, said it was “unsustainable development conflicting with national policy”.
Mid Norfolk MP George Freeman (Image: Laurie Noble / UK Parliament)
Castle Acre Parish Council, Holme Hale Parish Council and Sporle With Palgrave Parish Council have also raised concerns.
However, 13 of the 64 representations are from people supporting the scheme, who have submitted identical statements backing the application, by developer Island Green Power.
MILIBAND’S DECISION
The Droves application is being treated as a nationally significant infrastructure project, because it is seen as crucial to the government’s net zero drive and the reduction of dependency on fossil fuels.
That means it does not go through the usual planning process, with the decision on whether it is approved ultimately resting with Ed Miliband, secretary of state for energy security and net zero.
Ed Miliband (Image: PA)
An independent planning inspector will consider written representations and evidence, including through public hearings, in order to make a recommendation to Mr Miliband, which will inform his decision.
Island Green Power has said the scheme, which includes a battery energy storage system to store surplus energy, will generate up to 500 megawatts of electricity, enough to power around 115,000 homes a year.
Norfolk has seen a spate of application for huge solar farms, with critics raising concerns about the loss of farmland as well as the cumulative impact on the landscape.