North Bedfordshire MP, Richard Fuller (Conservative), is joining a walk this weekend to protest against a proposed solar farm that, campaigners say, will be larger than Gatwick Airport.
Brockwell Storage and Solar’s East Park Energy will be a 1,900-acre industrial-scale solar scheme situated on the border between North Bedfordshire and Huntingdonshire.
It will be capable of generating up to 400 MW of clean power, which would be enough to supply every home in Bedford and St Neots.
However, protesters – including former EastEnders actor, Ricky Groves – say that the project is targeting some of the most fertile farmland in the region and will have an impact on landscapes, biodiversity, food security and local communities.
Around 200 people are expected to take part in the walk, which departs from the public footpath near Lodge Farm in Little Staughton (what3words: calculate.glows.broccoli) at 10am on Sunday, 8 June.
A spokesperson for the campaign said: “This is about protecting our best farmland, heritage and countryside from schemes that are simply too big, too damaging and in the wrong place.
“Solar power performs poorly in the UK climate and it’s not worth taking out good farmland when panels can go on the hundreds of thousands of acres of spare space on rooftops and car parks. We welcome people to come and see for themselves – it’s highly unlikely this land would ever be returned to productive agricultural use and it’s too precious to lose.”
The walk is part of a coordinated national protest involving 25 campaign groups across the country, highlighting Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) solar schemes.
North Bedfordshire MP, Richard Fuller, told the Bedford Independent that he will be joining thousands across the country concerned about the plans to “impose super large-scale solar power infrastructure on our countryside”.
He added that the 1,900-acre East Park Solar Farm “will be a massive blight on the countryside of North Bedfordshire and sprawls over the border into Huntingdonshire”.
“Few disagree that solar can have a role to play in the overall portfolio of renewable energy as a means of reducing our reliance on fossil fuels, but increasingly concerns are being raised over the scale and suitability of the placement of solar farms.
“We all support growing the provision of renewable energy streams but surely not at the expense of prime agricultural land and not before fully exploiting the roofs of warehouses, car parks and supermarkets.
“Of the 1,900 acres that the East Park Energy proposal would cover with solar panels, 74% of this is classed as Best and Most Versatile (BMV) Agricultural Land.”
Mr Fuller suggests that alternative solar farms could be created on the roofs of warehouses, supermarkets and car parks, however, storing energy harnessed in these locations is less straightforward.
Green energy
Bedford’s Green Party councillors, Lucy Bywater, Ben Foley and Paul Edmonds, told the Bedford Independent that they understood concerns around big changes to the local environment.
“Greens would prefer planning rules so that every new house and commercial property had solar panels on the roof,” they said.
“In the end Greens say we urgently need much more renewable energy to bring energy prices down, to reduce dependency on fossil fuels, to drive down carbon emissions and increase UK energy security.”
They refute several of the claims made by the protesters, saying, “The claim that ‘solar power performs poorly in the UK climate’ is simply false. There wouldn’t be schemes like this proposed if that was the case. The East of England is one of the sunniest regions in the country.”
“Greens want solar on roofs most of all, and on poor quality land. It is a worry if this is proposed to be on “the highest grade” of land.
Even so, this country isn’t short of land for food production. What we have is an over-reliance on animal farming and the large amount of land needed to grow feed for that livestock.
“Intensive industrial agriculture isn’t a healthy environment for people, for soil, for rivers, or for wildlife.
“Thought is needed when talking about this type of ‘countryside’. It also needs to be recognised that solar can work well alongside biodiversity, even increased biodiversity, when compared to intensive agriculture and the way it uses lots of pesticides, herbicides and chemical fertilisers.
“Some solar also has grazing alongside it too. Greens know that the true risk to wildlife and biodiversity in this country is climate breakdown, not solar energy.”
Getting the balance right
A spokesperson for East Park Energy told the Bedford Independent that, “meeting the UK Government’s targets to boost solar production in full would require only a fraction of the UK’s total land to be used for solar infrastructure.
“This would amount to less space than that currently taken up by golf courses.”
They said: “We have sought to avoid the use of high-quality agricultural land where possible when developing our proposals.
“However, the need to remain within 15km of our connection point to the electricity network, combined with the topography, nature and general quality of farmland in the search area, means that our proposals do still involve building solar infrastructure on some high-quality farmland.
“Climate change has been identified as a major threat to farmland and the UK’s food security. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs says that climate change could result in the loss of nearly three-quarters of the UK’s stock of high-grade agricultural land by 2050.
“Following the close of our statutory public consultation in October 2024, our team has been busy reviewing feedback and refining our proposals.
“We look forward to sharing the outcomes of this work in the coming months as we prepare to submit our application for development consent.”
Bedford and Kempston MP, Mohammad Yasin (Labour), said that while the development was not in his constituency, he respected the strength of feeling of those taking part in the protest.
However, he said, the Labour Government was elected with a clear mandate to deliver on Great British Energy and act on the climate crisis.
“Our Clean Power 2030 plan will help secure Britain’s energy independence, bring down energy bills, and safeguard our environment for the future.
“We are taking action to prioritise rooftop solar on new homes, schools, NHS sites, and car parks – but to meet our targets, some large-scale, ground-mounted solar projects will be needed too.
“Across Bedfordshire and beyond, extreme weather and flooding are already impacting lives. The cost of inaction is far higher than the cost of taking bold, responsible steps today.”
But, he said, it is important to get the balance right.
“Communities should see real benefits, such as lower bills, when they host clean energy infrastructure. Local input must be respected, but we cannot shy away from making the positive case for taking action on climate change to build a cleaner, safer, more secure future.”
