Newark: Concerns over scale of solar farm development

A proposed solar farm in Nottinghamshire that could become the biggest in the UK has raised concerns.

Planned for an area north-west of Newark, the Great North Road Solar Park has the potential to power 400,000 homes - equivalent to the whole of the county.

But residents have expressed unease over the vast areas of agricultural land it would take up.

A preliminary consultation is open until 27 February.

Developers say the solar farm could prevent the release of thousands of tonnes of carbon emissions.

But Newark and Sherwood district councillor Sue Saddington said she was worried about the long-term impact on the area and had received a "great number of emails from people who are not happy".

"I understand the benefits of not having to rely on other countries for power, but we need to think about how much agricultural land we're giving up," she told the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

"Shouldn't we be putting solar panels on every school, hospital and public building first?

"I wonder if people who own these fields are seeing a new source of income that's more profitable than agriculture? We can't blame them for trying to diversify."

A number of smaller schemes in and around the district have been rejected by council planners in the past but others have been approved.

However this application, which sits close to the villages of North Muskham, Maplebeck, Ossington and Eakring, is the largest to come before the council.

In a statement, developer Elements Green said: "As the coal-fired power stations in the area have closed down, this has created capacity in the grid, allowing GNR Solar Park to carry on the tradition of power generation in the area using a clean, renewable resource."

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