Reform leaders train sights on plans for large renewable energy projects in Lincolnshire

Boston and Skegness MP Richard Tice, Greater Lincolnshire Mayor Andrea Jenykns, and Lincolnshire County Council leader Coun Sean Matthews have launched a campaign to fight the various proposals.

The ‘Lincolnshire Opposes Renewable Eyesores’ (LORE) campaign is taking issue with large solar farms, National Grid’s pylon proposals and battery farms.

Reform claim they are being pushed by ‘eco-zealots’, though renewable energy companies say these plans are urgently needed to mitigate climate change.

Most big energy projects are decided by the national government rather than local councils, but the trio say they will use ‘lawfare’ in the courts to throw up legal barriers.

They have also warned developers they will enact legislative changes if Reform wins the next General Election.

Mr Tice said: “Our message to developers is ‘invest in these schemes at your financial peril’.

“We will use lawfare and legal campaigns to push the envelope as far as we can and dissuade investors,” he said.

The campaign is targeting large solar farms, which they claim could cover as much as one hundred square miles in Lincolnshire, as well as National Grid’s proposed pylons from Grimsby to Walpole.

Mayor Dame Andrea Jenkyns said: “This many proposals would mean the desecration of Lincolnshire, which has some of the most fertile agricultural land, and is the farming heart of England.

“Why should we put food security at risk?”

She also described net zero carbon emissions targets as a ‘con’, which was placing added pressure on the farming community.

The launch at the Boston United football ground yesterday (Wednesday, July 30) was attended by dozens of Reform figures, as well as some other councillors who are opposed to solar farms.

Coun Matthews said the various proposals would ‘change the face of Lincolnshire beyond recognition’.

“I will stand in front of bulldozers with residents to slow them down long enough for the next Reform government to stop them,” he said. “If you invest in these follies, you will lose your money.”

Renewable developers say that more green energy is urgently needed to reduce carbon emissions and prevent a climate catastrophe.

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband recently attacked Reform’s stance on renewable energy.

“Every solar panel we put up, every wind turbine we build, every piece of infrastructure we build helps get us off those fossil fuels and give us energy security,” he told the BBC.

Climate scientists believe urgent cuts are needed to greenhouse gases to stop disaster.