We’re furious over plans to build a huge solar farm – it’ll be as big as 130 football pitches & ruin our village
LOCALS are fuming over plans to build a massive solar farm the size of 130 football pitches in a picturesque village.
The proposals for the site at Skeeby, close to the town of Richmond in North Yorkshire, will generate power for over 11,000 homes after recently being given the green light.
But residents of the sleepy villages close to the expanse earmarked for the development believe wildlife will be destroyed and the countryside ruined.
Maggie Rutherford's home looks onto the empty fields set to be built upon just 250m from her land.
The retired nurse was left furious when nobody on her lane was told about the plans.
She said: "I'm appalled about the whole thing. We have productive, arable land but this is disappearing at a fast rate.
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"The impact on the environment is going to be massive as well. We have bats, owls, deers and we have geese that roost on the land."
She feels left out of the planning process and says residents have been kept in the dark.
Maggie said: "The developers have taken the mickey."
The 67-year-old added: "They are going to be putting hedges up between us and the site but they are going to take a long time to grow.
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"We feel like the developers have not even considered us."
Yesterday a number of locals were led on tour through the
landscape where the farm will be built as part of a planning meeting.
Richmondshire District Council's planning officers claim the "environmental and public benefits" outweigh any potential impacts.
Around 15 locals attended the meeting, including some who held up three metre signs to protest over the proposed height of the panels.
Retired local Government Officer Karen Elliott, 62, said: "It is a beauty spot and the whole nature around it will change which is a shame. You're taking out good land which is used for making crops and food."
Meanwhile retired farmer Chris Wilkin, from nearby Brompton-on-Swale was on the fence.
It is a beauty spot and the whole nature around it will change which is a shame. You're taking out good land which is used for making crops and food
Karen Elliott
The 80-year-old said: "It's a tricky one because there are arguments for and against.
"They will be taking out land used for agriculture which will affect
production. It will also affect the grass and you definitely won't be able to grow corn on it which is what the farmers do now.
"But I can see why they are doing it because we need electricity and the prices are shooting up so this is a green investment."
But another local, who lives next to the road where the access point to the site has been proposed, is furious.
Choosing to remain anonymous, she said: "We will be massively affected if they use this road to get to the site which is very close to here. People cross these roads and it can get very busy.
"It's going to be dangerous because there are horses up and down all of the time as well as dog walkers. We won't look directly on to it but I sympathise for those who will.
"There's been a lot of talk about it online but people just can't get a
response and we get ignored.
"It's going to be a nightmare for locals. There are beautiful farms around here but it's going to be horrendous for them to look onto it every day."
'WE UNDERSTAND CONCERNS'
James Ritchie from Harmony Energy said: “We understand the concerns of the local community and as a result have amended the scheme a number of times, including reducing its overall size.
“The claims that our solar farm will harm wildlife are totally inaccurate, in fact significant landscaping will create new habitats on site, and will produce a biodiversity net gain of 118 per cent over and above existing levels.
“In addition, all public footpaths will remain open, and will be protected throughout construction and operation.
“We are in the midst of a global energy crisis, and the reality is without solar farms such as this one proposed for Skeeby, energy prices will continue rising and the threat of blackouts will become ever greater.
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“Recent estimates calculate that if the UK Government significantly scaled up solar production in line with the net-zero target, this would equate to just a 0.5 per cent loss in farmland.”
The Sun has approached Richmondshire District Council for comment.
