Campaign group say planned solar park near Swindon is ‘not the right path’
A second consultation started this week
Campaigners are calling for developers to put a stop to plans of installing a solar park in the Southern Cotswolds.
Lime Down Solar is set to span 50 km2 of land around Malmesbury and surrounding villages.
The campaign group is concerned about the loss of both agricultural land and tourism.
Rosie Clark, spokesperson for Stop Lime Down, said: “A lot of the businesses here are reliant on tourists. People come to the Cotswolds to walk, to cycle, to visit the historic villages.
There is a lot of cultural and historic significance to the area as well as the significance of the countryside for the wellbeing of the local population and the tourists who come here for that very reason”.
During the first consultation, 88 percent of locals spoke out against the plans.
However, they feel like their actions have had “limited impact” so far.
Stop Lime Down have made it clear that it is not the idea of the expansion of green energy they oppose.
Ms Clark explained: “We accept that we need some renewables, we accept that we need solar – but that solar should be on brownfield sites, it should be used on rooftops, so every warehouse, every supermarket, every car park, motorway sidelines, railways”.
The development is expected to power 115,000 houses a year should its installation go ahead.
Developers Green Island Power state on their website that they intend to only occupy the land “temporarily” – the solar panels’ lifespan of 60 years.
Stop Lime Down are concerned about what happens in the meantime, though.
“This is land that is predominantly arable, so it’s currently producing crops and every acre that we take out of our agricultural land means that we will have to, effectively, ship in food that is produced in other countries because it risks damaging our food security”, said Ms Clark.
Green Island Power have been contacted for comment.