MP asks government to review solar farm decision

Jeremy Hunt has asked Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner to review a decision to build a solar farm on green belt land.

The University of Surrey was given permission to build on a 43-hectare site west of Blackwell Farm, on the Hog's Back, near Guildford.

Hunt, MP for Godalming and Ash, said he was concerned "due weight was not given to the site" in terms of it being in Surrey Hills National Landscape.

The university was given permission on 6 November to build the solar farm, which it said would provide 34% of its electricity.

Hunt added that the southern and western part of the land was within his parliamentary constituency and called the Hog's Back "a key site" of the Surrey Hills National Landscape.

He said: "I am also concerned to learn that no assessment was undertaken of the carbon impact of the overall scheme (including the substantial road infrastructure) so there was no way of knowing if the solar plant is genuinely 'green' or whether the scheme's benefits outweigh the embedded carbon in its construction."

The Ministry of Housing said it wouldn't be appropriate to comment, and Guildford Borough Council has been contacted for comment.

A University of Surrey spokesperson said the project was "firmly in line" with local and national planning policy priorities.

They added: "Over an extremely thorough 18-month planning process, the University of Surrey’s application for a new solar facility was extensively consulted on and scrutinised.

"We made changes through the process to maximise biodiversity gains, visual screening and address other points raised through the process."

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