Lincolnshire County Council members set out their opposition to an application from Springwell Energy Farm Limited planned near Navenby

A council has formally objected to plans for an 800MW solar farm.

During a meeting of Lincolnshire County Council’s Planning and Regulation Committee on Monday (June 9), members set out their opposition to an application from Springwell Energy Farm Limited.

The company is seeking a 40-year Development Consent Order (DCO) to install solar panels on land near Navenby.

The proposals also include infrastructure such as a battery energy storage system and underground cabling to connect the site to a proposed National Grid substation at Navenby.

Head of planning Neil McBride explained that the council is not the decision maker in the process, but rather a consultee, with the final decision to be made by central government.

“The council is a consultee in the DCO process and is required to provide its comments on the application to the examining authority, appointed by the Secretary of State, who – following a six-month examination – will make a recommendation to the Secretary of State as to whether the DCO should be granted or not,” he said.

Mr McBride also highlighted that the application site covers 1,280 hectares and consists of three distinct parcels: Springwell East, which borders the village of Scopwick; Springwell Central, located to the east of RAF Digby; and Springwell West, which is intersected by the A15 Sleaford Road.

A report to members noted that approximately 42% of the site is classified as best and most versatile (BMV) agricultural land.

This refers to the highest-quality land suitable for a wide range of crops and farming practices.

The total area proposed for solar panels is 591 hectares.

Of this, 35.6% – the equivalent to 210.7 hectares – of BMV land would be covered by solar panels.

A further 129.8 hectares would be used for additional infrastructure such as battery energy storage systems, collector compounds, the Springwell substation, the main collector compound, and green infrastructure.

Of that, 77 hectares would represent a permanent loss of land.

Coun Marianne Overton (Lincolnshire Independent) was the first to respond, insisting that solar panels would be much better placed on rooftops rather than agricultural land.

She said: “If this was really about renewable energy, I think the government would have started with a proposal that all commercial roofs have got to be covered in the next five years, that all new builds have got to be energy efficient, and there are sufficient incentives to create energy efficiency out of the buildings we’ve got.

“That’s why it’s really hard not to be cynical about these proposals. But, fundamentally, they are very damaging to the landscape and the nature of our landscape.”

Before pointing out that the application roughly equates to half the size of the city of Lincoln, she added: “We have supported small-scale solar, we’ve supported it on roofs.

“No one is against solar, but what we are against is occupying good farmland with vast quantities (of solar panels).”

Although recognising the benefits of green energy the solar farm could produce, Coun Lindsey Cawrey (Conservative) argued that the development would negatively impact food production.

“We have a growing population with more mouths to feed, and we need fields to grow that food—we cannot rely on importing staples,” she told members.

Meanwhile, Labour’s Coun Neil Murray said he would be inclined to vote in favour of the development, despite acknowledging the view would not be widely shared.

“The thing is, Lincolnshire needs renewable energy and, at the moment, when we get our electric bills, we’re paying a lot of money for imported fossil fuels,” he said.

Chairman Barry Daish (Reform UK) attempted to propose a three-month deferral so members could read further into the matter.

However, officers warned that if the committee delayed submitting its comments any longer, they would not be taken into account.

Ultimately, the committee voted to approve submitting a written objection to the DCO application.

While acknowledging the project would produce clean, renewable energy, the committee concluded that the positive impacts were outweighed by negatives – including the loss of BMV land and the development being contrary to several policies in the Central Lincolnshire Local Plan.