Plans for 3,700 acres of solar panels on farmland

People have been invited to have their say on plans to install 3,700 acres (1,500 hectares) of solar panels on farmland.

Kingsway Solar wants to install the panels on three parcels of land in south Cambridgeshire and build 14km (8.6 miles) of overhead power lines.

It has plans to hold a series of consultation events this month, with the next in the villages of West Wratting and Great Wilbraham, and an online consultation on 2 December.

David Vernon, the project lead for Kingsway Solar, said: "We will use all the feedback to this stage of consultation, as well as ongoing environmental assessments, to develop our proposals further."

He said the aim of the consultation was to gather people's views in the community and understand any issues or concerns with the project.

Mr Vernon said: "Where there's the opportunity to develop solar projects of this scale it's our view that we should be taking those opportunities.

"Here is very much, in our view, an area [where] we can deliver a sizable requirement to that national need."

The solar farm would have a generating capacity of 500 megawatts per year, which Kingsway Solar claimed would power 175,000 homes.

The proposals involve farmland around the villages of West Wratting, Willingham Green, Weston Colville and Balsham.

Additionally, Kingsway is planning a 14km (8.6 mile) "connection corridor", which would use overhead power lines to connect to an existing substation at Burwell.

Due to the size of the development, the final decision would be made by Ed Miliband, the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, rather than local planners.

Earlier this year, a 2,500-acre (1,011 hectare) solar farm on the Cambridgeshire and Suffolk border was given government approval.

The Sunnica project will also connect to the substation at Burwell.

Mr Vernon said: "We are aware of the proximity of Kingsway Solar to Sunnica, and will consider this and other developments in the local area as part of our cumulative impact assessment."

Some local people have raised concerns about the solar farm's impact on agricultural farmland and local footpaths.

Mike Davey, who walks his dogs in the area, said: "I just think it's going to completely destroy the biodiversity of the area and the land use that we use it for.

"It's going to take that away from us."

Holly Venn, who runs a coffee shop, said she was "not too keen" on the idea of the solar farm being situated so close to the villages.

"I know it's got to go somewhere, but roofs or land that's not on a public footpath maybe."

Miss Venn said she wanted to know more about the environmental impact of solar panels and batteries.

"I would like to know about how recyclable things are, and long-term – how long these things last."

The initial consultation on the plans will be open until midnight on 12 December and a statutory consultation is due to begin early next year.

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