New MP says solar farm approval is a 'disgrace'

A new Conservative MP has said the government's granting of approval for a giant solar farm in his constituency was "disgraceful".

Sunnica's £600m energy farm on the Cambridgeshire/Suffolk border was approved on Friday by the new Labour's Energy Minister Ed Miliband.

But West Suffolk's Conservative MP Nick Timothy said he thought the decision on the 2,500-acre (1,000 ha) scheme was "quite disgraceful and quite arrogant".

Mr Miliband said: "We will make tough decisions with ambition and urgency - all part of our plan to make the UK a clean energy superpower."

A decision on the plans had been repeatedly delayed - most recently due to the UK general election.

The announcement has been met with concern from some opponents, worried that the project would take out productive agricultural land when sites such as south-facing commercial roof space on giant warehouses could have been utilised instead.

Mr Timothy, who was voted in to ex-health minister Matt Hancock's former seat on 4 July, said he thought the plan was "outrageous" as it divided villages from one another and affected a protected Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

"The expert examining authority, commissioned by the government, advised that it should not go ahead," he said.

"But Ed Miliband has boasted it took him just three days to approve three of these solar farms across the country.

"That suggests he didn't stick to the proper process and that the decision probably was not that rational or reasonable, which is the legal test for these things."

The West Suffolk MP questioned whether it was "plausible" that the minister had had enough time to properly consider the examining authority report, which was more than 350 pages long.

However, Mr Miliband, whose full title is Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, said: "Solar power is crucial to achieving net zero, providing an abundant source of cleaner, cheaper energy.

"Some of these cases had been held up for months before I arrived in the department.

"They were put on my desk on Monday and I’ve made a decision in three days. This is the speed we’re working at to achieve energy independence, cut bills for families and kickstart green economic growth."

Sunnica said the scheme would power 172,000 homes and create 1,500 jobs during construction and a further 27 full-time posts once in operation.

The latest plans were for three sites connected by underground cables at:

• Sunnica East Site A, near West Row and Mildenhall in Suffolk
• Sunnica East Site B, south of the village of Worlington, near Mildenhall
• Sunnica West Site A, near Newmarket, north of the A14 in Cambridgeshire

On Monday, the Say No To Sunnica action group said villagers were "pretty shell-shocked" by the announcement.

The solar farm was also opposed by Suffolk County Council, East Cambridgeshire District Council and Lucy Frazer, who is the former Conservative MP for East Cambridgeshire, which is now Ely & East Cambs.

Mr Timothy, who was Teresa May's former chief of staff, said he would now meet the campaign group and local councils to consider legal options.

He said the key way to challenge the decision was through a judicial review, which would "check the government went through proper processes and made reasonable and rational decisions".

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