Lincolnshire MPs brand solar farms build-up ‘totally unfair’ in Parliament

Several spoke against them in a House of Commons debate on Thursday secured by Dr Caroline Johnson (Con), MP for Sleaford and North Hykeham.

Up to seven per cent of the Sleaford constituency could be covered under current plans (the second highest rate in the country) while Gainsborough faces losing nearly six per cent of its land (the fourth highest.)

Dr Johnson said she wasn’t against solar farms in principle, but “The government is concentrating on prime farmland rather than rooftops, which is folly of the highest degree.

“The scale is difficult to describe. They go on for miles, encircling villages and individual homes.”

She said she had received more than 2,000 letters from constituents after carrying out a survey – “many with pages of heartfelt comments, deeply concerned about large scale solar farms.”

Dr Caroline Johnson also claimed light reflecting from panels could dazzle RAF pilots flying from stations such as Waddington and Coningsby, as well RAF Cranwell used for training aircrew.

However, a senior RAF source dismissed the idea when speaking to the PA news agency and the BBC.

Sir Edward Leigh (Con), Gainsborough MP, told the House of Commons: “The problem is the sheer concentration – 13,000 acres within six miles of Gainsborough, which has a colossal effect.

“We beg the [minister for energy] to take these applications together, otherwise it’s totally unfair on a particular area.”

He added that the system where major energy projects were decided by the government was “a cheat which by-passed local democracy.”

Boston & Skegness MP Richard Tice (Reform) said: “These projects are absolute madness, they destroy farmland and jobs for the next 20 or 30 years.”

He also warned against battery farms (formally known as Battery Energy Storage Systems).

“We are now learning these are very dangerous. Three have gone up in flames in the UK this year, releasing toxic fumes and toxins in the ground,” he said.

MP Michael Shanks (Lab), the under-secretary of state for energy security and net zero, responded: “It is not a battle between food and energy security – solar power and agriculture can co-exist.

“The clean power mission is not about ideology, but delivering energy security and stopping volatile fossil fuels from raising energy bills.”

He said the government hoped to put panels on every suitable rooftop but “there is also a role for ground-mounted solar.”

He also agreed to meet Dr Johnson about the number of solar farms around Sleaford.