{"id":774517,"date":"2026-09-18T08:28:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T08:28:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/774517\/"},"modified":"2026-09-18T08:28:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T08:28:09","slug":"campaigners-feel-powerless-over-future-of-east-pye-solar-farm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/774517\/","title":{"rendered":"Campaigners feel &#8216;powerless&#8217; over future of East Pye solar farm"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Due to its size, the solar farm is considered nationally significant and is one of three major solar farms planned for Norfolk.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">During the hearing on Wednesday, Kathy Thompson, from Great Moulton, told the Planning Inspectorate that the project &#8220;threatens everyone in Norfolk&#8221;. <\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">She said: &#8220;The reality is that many still have no idea of the terrifying scale of what is happening.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Opponents have also likened the project to HS2, the high-speed railway which will connect London and Birmingham. <\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Karl Catchpole, Reform UK councillor for Long Stratton, said: &#8220;We can&#8217;t let East Pye solar become this region&#8217;s HS2: a decision made far away, imposed on a community that is never totally listened to.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">&#8220;South Norfolk has already contributed to this country&#8217;s energy targets.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Previously, a spokesman for IGP said &#8220;solar energy is among the cheapest power produced in Great Britain, supporting the aim of reducing bills for homes and businesses&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The examination process is expected to conclude in February when inspector David Cliff will have three months to submit a recommendation to Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh, who will have a further three months to make a decision.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Do you have a story suggestion for Norfolk? Contact us below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Due to its size, the solar farm is considered nationally significant and is one of three major solar&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":774518,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[1397,90,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-774517","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-science","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/774517","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=774517"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/774517\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/774518"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=774517"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=774517"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=774517"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}