New solar farm proposed alongside the A140 between Dickleburgh and Tivetshall St Mary.
Plans have been unveiled for another solar farm in an area of Norfolk which is already set to host the UK’s largest development.
The new proposals would see panels installed on 80 acres of countryside alongside the A140 between Dickleburgh and Tivetshall St Mary.
The site would be close to a separate solar farm already in the pipeline, set to be the country’s biggest, which is due to be centred on the neighbouring village of Gissing and span around 5,000 acres.
It would also be just south of two other huge proposed solar sites, one – called East Pye – centred on Hempnall and encompassing 2,700 acres of fields in around half a dozen villages – and the other, as yet unnamed, nearer to Long Stratton and covering 2,500 acres.
The south Norfolk countryside along the A140 is fast becoming a solar corridor, with an increasing number of renewable energy schemes in the pipeline as part of efforts to achieve ambitious net-zero targets.
Overall, Norfolk’s solar stock is set to increase by at least 17,000 acres in the coming years, equivalent to almost 10,000 football pitches.
The projects are being fiercely resisted in many villages, with critics saying the land should remain in agricultural use.
The latest proposals, which would cover 83 acres of land, have been unveiled by energy company Regener8. Public consultation events are due to begin this month.
The villages are close to the proposed route of the Norwich to Tilbury pylon scheme, which would carry power generated from windfarms off the Norfolk coast to elsewhere in the country.
Because of their size, a decision on whether the largest solar schemes can go ahead will ultimately rest with Ed Miliband, the secretary of state for energy and net zero, rather than local councils.
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