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Fears for food security as Miliband pushes through Britain’s biggest solar farm

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Energy Secretary’s decision to overturn planning inspectorate on project in rural eastern England sparks fury

Camilla Turner, SUNDAY POLITICAL EDITOR13 July 2024 • 10:30pm

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Ed Miliband, pictured with Sadiq Khan
Ed Miliband, pictured with Sadiq Khan, said the solar decision showed ‘the speed we’re working at to achieve energy independence’ CREDIT: PA Images

Ed Miliband has been accused of endangering the nation’s food security after giving the go-ahead for Britain’s biggest solar farm on green land despite the objections of officials.

The Energy Secretary’s decision to overturn the planning inspectorate and give the green light to the controversial project in rural eastern England has sparked fury from MPs and campaigners.

The scheme will see Sunnica, an energy firm, building a 2,792-acre solar farm and energy storage infrastructure around several villages in Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, providing power for 100,000 homes. Mr Miliband has also given the go-ahead along to two solar farms in Lincolnshire. 

It is feared this will be the first of many further decisions that will sacrifice vast amounts of farmland to net zero energy projects. 

The danger is that the fall in domestic agricultural production will compromise the nation’s food security, meaning it will face the prospect of greater dependence on food imports and increasing vulnerability to price rises on international markets.

The decision suggests it is likely that Mr Miliband will make meeting net zero targets a priority over preserving agricultural land in the dozens of other solar farm decisions making their way through the planning system.

On Saturday night, he defended the move, saying: “Some of these cases had been held up for months before I arrived in the department. They were put on my desk on Monday, and I’ve made a decision in three days.

“This is the speed we’re working at to achieve energy independence, cut bills for families and kick-start green economic growth. We will make tough decisions with ambition and urgency – all part of our plan to make the UK a clean energy superpower.”

It comes as the Labour Government is set to introduce a number of net zero measures in the King’s Speech on Tuesday, including legislation to set up GB Energy, a publicly-owned energy company.

More than 35 new Bills will be announced, which will include overhauling planning rules to boost house-building and legislation to nationalise the railways.

The speech, which will be delivered by King Charles at the State Opening of Parliament on Tuesday, will include a cyber security Bill, aimed at reining in the ability of hackers from rogue states to target public services such as the NHS.

There will be legislation empowering the Office for Budget Responsibility to publish independent forecasts of major fiscal events.

It is understood legislation to lower the voting age to 16 – one of Labour’s manifesto commitments – will not feature.

Other measures include abandoning zero hours contracts, a national truant register and more breakfast clubs.

The Sunnica project, which is equivalent to the size of 2,115 football pitches, was one of three solar farms Mr Miliband waved through on Friday evening.

Critics have decried the size of the solar farm on agricultural land and the potential danger of the large lithium-ion battery units needed to store the electricity generated by solar panels before transfer to the National Grid. In recent years, similar units have been involved in fires and explosions in Britain and abroad.

Dozens of other solar farm decisions are making their way through the planning system
Dozens of other solar farm decisions are making their way through the planning system CREDIT: Karl Hendon/Moment RF

Claire Coutinho, the shadow energy secretary, said: “It’s clear that Ed Miliband has more interest in listening to the demands of Just Stop Oil than the needs of rural communities, even going as far as to overrule an expert Examining Authority to impose a large-scale solar farm in one case.

“Climate policy cannot come at the expense of struggling families, or the nation’s food or economic security or it will fail.”

Nick Timothy, the Tory MP for West Suffolk, hit out at the “arrogant” decision, adding: “It was made with such haste it is difficult to believe that the Secretary of State respected the process or acted with good reason. I am already receiving correspondence from residents who are extremely worried about what it means for their families, homes and futures.”

Mr Timothy pointed out that the Examining Authority – the Government’s planning inspectors – stated that the scheme’s significant costs were not outweighed by any kind of public benefit.

“Across the country, people living near proposed giant solar and battery farms should beware – the Government has made clear it is not willing to listen to the evidence, the experts or local residents,” he said.

Charlotte Cane, the Liberal Democrat MP for neighbouring Ely and East Cambridgeshire said she was “shocked” that the Energy Secretary had “overridden all advice to the contrary and given this scheme permission”.

She added: “Green energy is vital, and solar farms are key to meeting our net zero targets. But that must not mean that every solar farm application should get permission regardless of its impact on our food security, biodiversity, landscape character and our existing farming and horse racing businesses.”

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Of the 1,360 representations received by the Government, all the relevant local authorities expressed their opposition and the Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service raised concerns about the safety of the battery energy storage system.

South Korea had 23 battery farm fires in two years, while Lithium-ion batteries used in solar farm energy storage systems were deemed an “unacceptable risk” in Arizona after causing two serious ­fires in 2019. Solar farm battery units are not covered by the Control of Major Accident Hazards regulations, and are unregulated under UK law.

Dr John Constable, the director of the Renewable Energy Foundation, said Mr Miliband was already “looking like a liability to his party’s growth agenda because he simply does not understand how damaging these renewable plans are to the economy. This is beginning to look like it is some kind of dogmatic ideology”.

He added: “There are dozens of solar projects across the UK at all stages of development. If this is a sign of things to come, it looks to me as though developers are going to get a free hand.

“Any concern for planning balance and environmental impact for reasonable decisions is being thrown to the winds. Food security matters – why not let the land make good food rather than second or third-rate electricity?”

A Sunnica spokesman said: “Sunnica is immensely pleased with the decision to grant development consent for Sunnica Energy Farm. Sunnica would make a nationally significant contribution towards the UK’s legal obligation to reach net zero emissions by 2050 and its ongoing energy security.

“This important milestone, and the decision by the Secretary of State, has come after many months of intense scrutiny and robust engagement with the planning process and wider public consultations.

“We will now move forward towards the implementation phase, ultimately allowing us to create clean renewable energy for the UK, and look forward to meeting with local authorities and the wider community to plan the next steps.”

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