{"id":122954,"date":"2024-08-28T09:52:09","date_gmt":"2024-08-28T09:52:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/08\/28\/solar-or-food-production-somerset-farmers-locked-into-debate\/"},"modified":"2024-08-28T09:52:09","modified_gmt":"2024-08-28T09:52:09","slug":"solar-or-food-production-somerset-farmers-locked-into-debate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2024\/08\/28\/solar-or-food-production-somerset-farmers-locked-into-debate\/","title":{"rendered":"Solar or food production? Somerset farmers locked into debate"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Solar<\/div>


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\"BBCBBC<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

“When it’s gone, it’s gone,” say campaigners fighting to keep farmland for food<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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Should rural land be used to produce food or energy? It is a question that divides farmers nationwide, and is being debated on the Somerset Levels.<\/p>\n

On ancient grazing pastures steel and silicon solar panels are being installed, taking thousands of acres of farmland out of food production.<\/p>\n

Across the country, the new Energy Security Secretary, Ed Miliband, has already approved<\/a> three huge controversial developments, covering 6,200 acres (2,500 hectares) of farmland. <\/p>\n

And while some farmers see solar as offering financial stability, others fear the loss of the land that feeds us.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"BBC\/AndrewBBC\/Andrew Roberts<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

A new solar farm proposed for this site in Somerset would be four times bigger than the current one<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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Mr Miliband wants to quadruple UK solar power, which he says will “make the UK a clean energy superpower.”<\/p>\n

Some farmers are happy to rent their fields to the growing green energy industry.<\/p>\n

Others are joining forces with campaigners fighting to keep farms for food.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re losing so much of our farmland,\u201d said Hugh Williams, of Somerset Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE).<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce it has gone, the damage is done.\u201d<\/p>\n

So why do farmers agree to put their fields under silicon panels? And will it mean Britain has to import more food?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

How much does solar pay?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
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Every week, Sam Small and her family turn down thousands of pounds of guaranteed income. They farm 400 acres on the Somerset Levels, five miles west of Glastonbury.<\/p>\n

When I visited her by the immaculate cow sheds, the sun was out – and she could earn a healthy income from that solar power.<\/p>\n

Mrs Small showed me a stack of adverts and emails the family have received.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe get plenty of emails saying, \u2018Make a thousand pounds an acre from your land!’ They’re everywhere now.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Sam<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

“We need every acre to feed these cows”, said dairy farmer Sam Small<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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If they rented out just a 10th of their land to a solar energy firm, they could earn \u00a340,000 a year. <\/p>\n

For 30 years.<\/p>\n

For doing nothing.<\/p>\n

But Mrs Small just laughs at the idea.<\/p>\n

\u201cVery tempting,\u201d she smiles, \u201cbut 10% of our land will also feed these cows. You have to look at the bigger picture.<\/p>\n

“We produce nearly two million litres of milk a year, and that is what we intend to carry on doing.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Hugh<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

“We’re losing so much farmland,” said Hugh Williams of Somerset CPRE<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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As well as refusing to put her land under solar panels, Mrs Small has joined a local campaign group fighting a nearby development.<\/p>\n

Elgin Energy applied to build a 146-acre (60 hectare) solar park at Nythe Rd, near Pedwell, producing enough energy to power 17,000 homes.<\/p>\n

There is already a smaller solar installation on the same farm, covering around 40 acres.<\/p>\n

Hundreds of local residents also objected, many citing the loss of productive farmland.<\/p>\n

“This was a thriving dairy farm”, said Lorna Hattingh.<\/p>\n

“To destroy farmland that is being used for food just seems a really negative way of doing it.”<\/p>\n

Mr Williams, from CPRE Somerset, joined the group for the same reason.<\/p>\n

“We only produce 60% of our food in this country,” he said.<\/p>\n

“No-one talks about the carbon footprint of the 40% we import. We\u2019ve had food prices through the roof, we don\u2019t seem to have learned the lessons of relying on food imports.<\/p>\n

“And we keep taking farmland away. Why?”<\/p>\n

The campaign was successful. In May Somerset Council rejected the solar park proposal, citing a “failure to explore lower quality agricultural land” among its reasons.<\/p>\n

But campaigners expect the developers to appeal. <\/p>\n

At Washford, on the Somerset Coast, the same company had a 132-acre project rejected by Somerset Council, but then won an appeal<\/a> and will soon start building.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

How much land is going under solar?<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
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There are dozens of similar schemes in the West Country.<\/p>\n