Norfolk villagers gearing up to fight plans for a huge ‘daisy chain’ of solar panels running through parishes including Great Moulton, Long Stratton Hempnall, Wacton, Tasburgh, Tharston and Topcroft.

Villagers are gearing up to fight plans for a huge daisy chain of solar panels, which would span ‘99 fields and meadows’ along the A140, according to campaigners.

Island Green Power (IGP), a developer of renewable energy projects, has brought forward a public consultation on its early-stage proposals for East Pye Solar farm, which it describea a as being on land close to Long Stratton.

Initial plans show the solar panels would be clustered along the A140, running through a number of parishes, including Great Moulton, Hempnall, Wacton, Tasburgh, Tharston and Topcroft.

If built, the new solar farm would generate 500 megawatts of energy – enough to power approximately 115,000 homes every year. It is classified as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project.

But parish, town, district and county councillors are already raising significant concerns about the plans, which will stretch over a distance of more than 10 miles.

David Hook, chairman of Hempnall Parish Council, said: “I am in favour of changing the way we produce energy, decarbonising energy production and moving over to renewable sources.

“But we want to see it done well, with a holistic way of looking at the landscape, rather than the economy as a beast that is out of control; one that needs so much energy fed into to make it work that anything goes as long as its green energy.”

“The sheer size and transformative nature of the project would completely destroy the area.

“They call them land plots or sites, of which there are around 12 or 13. But what they do not show are that most of the sites are multiple fields and meadows, which we count to be around 99 in total.”

Cllr Hook, who is also a trustee of the Norfolk branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England, said the group is in the process of contacting all parish councils in Norfolk affected by the proposal.

If granted consent, East Pye Solar project would be six times larger than the UK’s current biggest scheme.

Combined with plans by RWE for an even larger solar farm, High Grove, across 4,000 acres close to the A47 between Dereham and Swaffham, it would make Norfolk the “solar capital of the UK”.

Becky Buck, clerk to Long Stratton Town Council, said the council has resolved to support Hempnall Parish Council in its bid to fight the plan.

She said: “It seems quite apparent that East Pye Solar has not completed the necessary research in terms of land quality and whether there is potential to build a farm there. More information is very much needed.”

Norfolk county councillor, Alison Thomas, who represents many of the parishes affected, said: “I have concerns about using good-quality crop-growing land, the impact on residential settings and access to the countryside.

“It’s a daisy chain of solar fields covering a massive area and I question how this can be considered to be one application. It’s huge.

“I am not against renewable energy but I think solar panels should be on roof tops or car parks, and we shouldn’t be carpeting all of the Norfolk countryside with something which will potentially have a huge impact on people’s lives.

“Almost every other field would have solar panels, trenches with cables to link them and battery storage. I urge people to make themselves familiar with what is proposed.”

If East Pye Solar receives consent, it will generate energy for distribution to the national grid, via a new sub-station and the existing 400kV overhead line that runs north to south
between Norwich and Bramford sub-stations.

There will be two stages of public consultation.

Norfolk County Council leader Kay Mason Billig, a Conservative, recently accused the government of “riding roughshod” over local opinion on solar farms. South West Norfolk MP Terry Jermy has also voiced concerns.

Samantha Jones, project development manager for East Pye Solar, said: “We are excited to bring forward these plans for East Pye Solar, which, if built, will generate clean, home-grown electricity for homes and businesses, supporting the national ambition to achieve net zero while securing a reliable, affordable source of electricity.

“We are committed to developing our proposals with the local community and are pleased to launch the first consultation, which will run until December 6.

“The feedback will help us to develop our proposals so that the final designs meet the ambition for the project and deliver benefits to the local area, from enhancing the environment to providing direct funding for important causes.”

To find out on the consultation, go online to www.eastpyesolar.co.uk.

* As a reader, we know the value you place on trusted local journalism. At the Diss Express we are committed to delivering the very best coverage from our communities, and we can only do this with the support of our readers.

By becoming a subscriber you not only support us in this mission, you also unlock a whole host of benefits, including unlimited access to ad-lite websites and digital editions of all our weekly newspapers. You can find out more about subscriptions here.

Use the promo code ChrisMorris to get an annual subscription for less than £25 - we really appreciate your support. Thank you.