A four-week public consultation into proposals for a vast solar farm near Haverhill has closed.
Campaigners against the proposed 1,500 hectare (3,700 acre) facility have thanked all those who responded during the consultation.
Kingsway Solar Community Action (KSCA) was formed after Downing Renewable Developments revealed its proposals for the green energy farm on three parcels of land near Balsham, Weston Colville, West Wratting, Brinkley and Willingham Green, stretching as far as the A11.
Kingsway Solar could be built on three areas of land near the villages including Balsham, West Wratting, Weston Colville and Brinkley. Picture: Submitted
Called Kingsway Solar, the farm would have the potential to supply around 500 megawatts (MW) of electricity to the National Grid and power 175,000 homes. It would be the biggest solar farm in the UK should it go ahead.
A four-week period of public consultation closed on Thursday.
KCSA concerns about the proposals include:
• Size and proximity to rural housing in small rural villages;
• Changes to the rural landscape;
• Access to the site for industrial vehicles using country lanes;
• Unknown health and environmental impact of a large project of this size, for its duration.
Meanwhile, members of the Suffolk Green, Liberal Democrat and Independent (GLI) Group, which forms the official opposition at Suffolk County Council, saw their motion requesting a joined-up approach to solar power from the Government approved by the council last week.
Opposition leader Cllr Andrew Stringer presented a motion on Thursday calling on the authority to facilitate the installation of solar panels on rooftops to protect the county’s quality agricultural land.
He said while the council had to play its part in the transition to renewable energy, an uncoordinated Government approach to Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs) was creating challenges for rural communities.
Despite its good quality agricultural land, Suffolk has been a target for solar farm development, including the recently approved Sunnica proposals, covering 2,500 acres on the Suffolk-Cambridgeshire border.
Cllr Stringer said: “Although, when properly managed, solar farms can increase biodiversity and give the soil a period of recovery from intensive farming, they are a jarring sight on our beautiful countryside and take up lots of good quality land which we could be using to produce food.”