Ed Miliband has approved Britain’s second-largest solar farm after overruling opposition from his own inspectors.
The Energy Secretary on Wednesday said he had granted planning permission to the One Earth Solar Farm development to be built on prime farmland across Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire.
It comes despite a recommendation to block the development from Mr Miliband’s own planning inspectors.
They warned that the scheme would be destructive for the environment, would put historic structures at risk, damage the health and well-being of local people and cause transport problems.
The controversial decision marks the third large solar farm approved by Mr Miliband in recent days, coming a week after he backed two other large solar farms, Pear Tree Hill in East Yorkshire and Dean Moor in West Cumbria.
Skeptics suggest the Energy Secretary is trying to sign off as many such developments as he can before Andy Burnham takes office and potentially moves him to a new position.
One Earth has been cleared for construction on 4,000 acres of prime farmland near Bassetlaw, Newark and Sherwood and West Lindsey district council areas.
Besides the thousands of Chinese-made solar panels, the scheme will also include giant batteries to store surplus electricity.
It is set to be the second largest solar farm in the UK after the Springwell Solar Farm in Lincolnshire, an 800-megawatt project approved by the Government in April.
Confirming his decision, Mr Miliband said: “The only way to have energy security is if we take a pro-growth approach to building more clean energy in Britain. For two years that is exactly what this Government has done.”
However, the new scheme is controversial because it will see several rural communities largely surrounded by solar panels covering what were once fields and hedgerows.
The village of North Clifton, around 10 miles from Lincoln, would have solar farms to the north, east and south, with some of the local farms being completely surrounded.
Property owners cannot claim any compensation for the likely devaluation of their homes.
‘High flood risk’
Mr Miliband’s inspectors have also warned of a very high risk that the solar farm would face flooding from the adjacent River Trent.
David Rogers, the emeritus professor of ecology at Oxford University, said: “This is an extraordinary decision given the extensive level of flood risk along the River Trent here.
“The central part, along the river, is high flood risk and a much larger part is medium flood risk.”
Mr Rogers added: “What is the point of having a planning examination if everything is approved, regardless?”
Like most of the UK’s renewable energy projects, the scheme is backed by largely foreign investors.
The backers are PS Renewables, whose parent company, Sumando Acciones, is Spanish, and Perigus Energy, owned by Denmark’s Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners.
The decision means the Government has now approved 30 nationally significant clean-energy projects since coming to power, which it says will be enough to supply the equivalent of more than 19 million homes.
In the past 24 months, Lincolnshire has become the flashpoint of the UK’s clean energy transition.
Spurred by Mr Miliband’s net zero strategy, his energy department has bypassed councils to approve eight significant infrastructure projects.
Besides One Earth and Springwell, he has approved six other multi-megawatt schemes – Tillbridge, West Burton, Heckington Fen, Cottam, Gate Burton and Mallard Pass, all in the face of widespread local opposition.
The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said in a statement: “Local communities continue to be given the opportunity of being involved in the examination of projects that may affect them.”