Nottinghamshire County Council leader says Lincolnshire solar farm approvals cause ‘grave concern’ for Nottinghamshire projects such as the Great North Road Solar Park near Newark

Nottinghamshire County Council’s leader says he’s “gravely concerned” after two huge solar farms were approved in nearby Lincolnshire.

Ed Miliband, the new Labour Secretary of State for Energy, gave the green light light last week for the projects, which had been previously blocked by Conservative ministers.

The 1,700-acre Gate Burton project will be built near Gainsborough and the 2,000-acre Mallard Pass project is on the border of Lincolnshire and Rutland.

Both were so large that they were designated Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects, meaning the government rather than local councils made the decision on whether or not they could be built.

The new Labour administration has also announced reforms designed to make it easier to get housing and infrastructure projects through the planning system.

Nottinghamshire County Council leader Ben Bradley has now said he is worried about what the Lincolnshire decisions could mean for the Great North Road solar farm, which is proposed for 7,000 acres of countryside near Newark.

“My fear around Labour’s planning policy is it will give a greenlight to major industrial development on the greenbelt,” he told a meeting of the full council on Thursday (July 18).

“I’m gravely concerned as a resident of North Nottinghamshire what this means for the Great North Road solar farm – four miles wide, encircling beautiful villages with metal and glass.

“I submitted my own opposition in recent months. The policy change will destroy rural areas and be a blot on our landscape.”

The Great North Road scheme will also be submitted to the Secretary of State for approval after local consultation.

Mr Bradley added: “There will be benefits for speed of development [from the reforms] in some cases, but I have grave concerns in terms of residents having a say.”

Elements Green, the developer behind the Great North Road solar farm, says it would power around 400,000 homes and prevent the release of around 250,000 tonnes of CO2.

Labour group leader Kate Foale responded: “I understand concern over major industrial development in the green belt, but I don’t see that happening from the legislation.

“If we don’t get to Net Zero, we are all going to be in difficulty. We need to take climate change much more seriously.”

She asked Mr Bradley whether there would be more renewable energy projects locally after the government lifted the de-facto ban on on-share windfarms.

In response he described the nuclear fusion prototype which is due to be built at West Burton Power station, near Retford, as an “amazing opportunity for developing clean renewable energy”.