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Villagers 'shell-shocked' after solar farm approved

Qays Najim/BBC A woman with dark hair and wearing a blue t-shirt standing in front of a large field of golden wheatQays Najim/BBC
Catherine Judkins, chairwoman of Say No to Sunnica, is "gutted" about the decision to turn productive farmland into an energy farm

Campaigners opposed to a 2,500-acre solar farm said they were "shell-shocked" after the plan was approved by the secretary of state for energy.

Sunnica's £600m energy farm on the Cambridgeshire-Suffolk border was given the green light on Friday.

Opponents say the scheme takes some of the most productive land in the UK out of use, while ignoring alternative sites such as south-facing commercial roof space.

The Department of Energy Security and Net Zero says the "benefits of the proposed development outweigh its adverse impacts".

Sunnica A view of large solar panels on legs set into close-cropped grass with a blue sky with white clouds aboveSunnica
Ed Miliband said Sunnica would help "achieve energy independence, cut bills for families and kickstart green economic growth"

'We feel absolutely gutted'

Catherine Judkins, who chairs the Say No to Sunnica action group, said villagers were "pretty shell-shocked".

"What's really frustrating and why everyone is so angry is this seemingly rash decision goes against the expert advice of the [Planning Inspectorate] examiners."

Their report concluded that the perceived benefits did not outweigh the "combination of... harms" and it should not be approved.

Secondly, she pointed to "pledges Labour made throughout the election campaign on how food security is a matter of national security".

"This land is capable of growing high-value crops," she said.

Finally, solar is a "wonderful technology because it's so versatile".

Ms Judkins said: "It can go on rooftops, carparks, brownfield sites, we've got landfill sites being covered, not to mention the UK has over 600,000 acres of south-facing commercial roofs.

"In Germany, they installed 14 gw of solar energy in 2023, nearly 70% delivered through rooftops - the speed and scale you can roll out solar is incredible."

Shaun Whitmore/BBC A sign saying Say No to Sunnica in back and red letters on a white background in front of winter trees and a white houseShaun Whitmore/BBC
Objections to the project included concerns about the effects on the landscape and the Breckland Special Protection Area

A decision on the plans had been delayed several times, including most recently due to the UK general election.

The new Energy Security Secretary, Ed Miliband, said solar power was "crucial to achieving net zero on the mission towards 2030".

He said some cases had been "held up for months before I arrived in the department" and "I've made the decision in three days".

“We will make tough decisions with ambition and urgency – all part of our plan to make the UK a clean energy superpower," he added.

Suffolk County Council, East Cambridgeshire District Council and former Conservative MPs Matt Hancock for West Suffolk and Lucy Frazer for Ely had opposed it.

Where is the solar farm going?

Sunnica said its solar farm would power 172,000 homes and create 1,500 jobs during construction.

Its rejigged plans mean it will cover three sites connected by underground cables to each other and to the National Grid at Burwell substation.

The sites are:

  • 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

It will create 27 full-time jobs and the land will be decontaminated at the end of the scheme's lifetime and returned to its previous use.

Nicola Haseler/BBC A man in a blue v-necked jumper over a lighter blue t-shirt wearing glasses and standing on the side of a roadNicola Haseler/BBC
Richard Radcliffe said "very long landscape views" would disappear

"The decision has come like a bolt from the blue so early in this new government's tenure," said Richard Radcliffe, chairman of Isleham Parish Council in Cambridgeshire.

"The very long landscape views... will all disappear [under] solar panels which will take 15 years to be screened by the hedges they will plant."

Isabel Cross, who has lived in the area for 30 years, described it as "the industrialisation of the landscape".

She was also worried about the batteries needed to store the energy.

"They'll be the largest in Europe and they'll be across all the villages," she said.

'Gone through every hoop'

But according to Tony Slade, an energy transition consultant, the plans for the solar farm had gone through a rigorous assessment by officials.

"This has jumped through every single hoop, except the 'I don't want to look at it hoop'," he said.

"It's just farmland. The only thing is someone's 'planting' solar panels and they'll be harvesting electricity for 40 years, just the same as if they'd planted wheat and were harvesting grain for 40 years."

He added the project would help defend the UK from global energy price variations and carbon emissions.

"Once it's built, it'll be the quietest, most environmentally friendly neighbour that anyone could ask for," he said.

The BBC's Ben Parker looks at the detail of Sunnica.

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