High Grove Solar Farm will 'destroy' local economy, ecology and needs scrapping- says campaigner
If the project is given the green light by the government, it will be up and running by 2028
Those opposed to the construction of a solar farm in West Norfolk are telling us the project will 'destroy' the local economy and ecology, and needs to scrapped, as soon as possible
The High Grove site would spread across 4000 acres of green belt land close to Swaffham and be around the same size of the town.
The proposals would see it also sit close to Necton, Ashill and Bradenham, while sitting approximately 17 kilometres (km) west of Norwich and 1km west of Dereham.
If the project is given the green light by the Government, it will be up and running by 2028.
"That's where the new renewable energy projects should go"
Trevor Elliot lives in Ashill and has helped put together a group to fight this:
He told us what he wants to see put in place, instead:
"If every new building, including homes and commercial buildings, had a minimum percentage dedicated to solar panels then we wouldn't have to build any of these mega solar-farms at all.
"We also wouldn't need to have mega-pylons to get them into the National Grid either.
"Off the Norfolk and Suffolk coast we have also got some of the largest wind farms in the world.
"That's where the new renewable energy projects should go, there you don't need to have massive planning applications that can be held up for years. So, put more wind farms off-shore"
What stage is the project at?
It's currently at the pre-application stage. This is where the developer, (RWE), starts to create their application.
During this time they are required to consult with people and organisations in the area.
Where they must create detailed documents about the impact the project could have on the environment.
The application is expected to be submitted Between October and December 2025.
On receiving this, the Government has 28 days to decide whether to accept it for further examination.
If and when the application is accepted, local people will be able to register in order to have their say on this and view all the application documents.
What has the developer said?
RWE- the energy company behind these plans- say it will deliver enough clean electricity to power 363 thousand homes. Read more on what they say here.