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North Clifton, South Clifton and Fledborough residents launch campaign to save heritage villages from vast One Earth Solar Farm plans, with visit from Newark MP Robert Jenrick




Plans for a vast solar farm have prompted residents from three villages to take action in a bid to prevent the ancient parishes from being ‘engulfed’.

One Earth Solar Farm, which is in the early stages of planning, is a proposed solar farm with associated battery storage, on land surrounding North Clifton, South Clifton, Fledborough and Ragnall.

The villages and their historic farmland, which featured in the Domesday book, are thought to have been almost the same way for over 1,000 years, and residents have come together against the proposal.

Action group members, residents and councillors with Robert Jenrick MP.
Action group members, residents and councillors with Robert Jenrick MP.

A spokesman for One Earth, by PS Renewables and Ørsted, said: “One Earth is a new solar farm that could help meet the urgent need for clean, locally produced energy. If constructed, it could deliver 740 MW to the national grid, which is enough to power 200,000 UK homes each year, making a significant contribution in the fight against climate change.”

But residents of North Clifton and South Clifton have formed action groups to raise residents’ concerns about the current plans — and it’s questionnaire found that over 99% of villagers were opposed to the development.

Robert Jenrick MP with David White, North Clifton action group lead, Gill Cobham, South Clifton action group lead, Madeline Barden, Fledborough action group lead, and Rachel Bean, Fledborough parish councillor and member of the Fledborough action group.
Robert Jenrick MP with David White, North Clifton action group lead, Gill Cobham, South Clifton action group lead, Madeline Barden, Fledborough action group lead, and Rachel Bean, Fledborough parish councillor and member of the Fledborough action group.
Initial plans for the One Earth Solar Farm. Credit: One Earth
Initial plans for the One Earth Solar Farm. Credit: One Earth

A similar group has also been formed in Fledborough, and the three villages together make up the Save our Heritage Villages campaign.

Through leaflets and engagement with One Earth, the groups understand that over 3,500 acres will be affected – used for hundreds of thousands of industrial size solar panels, miles of two metre high fencing, battery storage facilities, lighting and 24-hour CCTV.

The group added that despite the planned 40-year lease, many people fear it will be extended, made permanent, or the solar farm expanded.

Owner of Moor Farm, North Clifton, Rebecca Walker, with her house and fields where the solar farm is proposed to be.
Owner of Moor Farm, North Clifton, Rebecca Walker, with her house and fields where the solar farm is proposed to be.

“We’ve had covid, the cost of living crisis and now this,” said North Clifton resident Maggie Firth.

“If this wasn’t enough, most of us all had no clue until it was announced out of the blue.”

It was said that at initial meetings with One Earth, its consultants were unable to answer residents’ questions or provide much detail.

“It felt like they were just going through the motions and this was simply a box-ticking exercise. They couldn’t give us even the vaguest idea as to the number or nature or size of the solar panels, or the size or type of the proposed battery storage units,” said North Clifton action group lead David White.

“We didn’t get to speak to one person from the actual company proposing this development, everyone was a consultant, who were either poorly briefed or weren’t allowed to tell us much in any sort of detail at all, all we knew were that the plans were massive at well over 3,000 acres.

“It was hard to leave the meeting without feeling a little helpless and many felt we were being abandoned and left to fend for ourselves.”

South Clifton action group lead Gill Cobham added: “Pretty much everyone in the community were fair-minded on this and felt we of course needed to engage with the developers before making a firm judgement.”

A further meeting with the developers and the North Clifton Parish Meeting, and South Clifton Parish Council was held, but once again “everyone left disappointed”.

Land where the One Earth Solar Farm is proposed to be built.
Land where the One Earth Solar Farm is proposed to be built.
Action group members, residents and councillors in North Clifton.
Action group members, residents and councillors in North Clifton.

Tania Russell added: “What we can say, is that at the end of what some thought was another pointless meeting, these consultants were left in no doubt as to what the collective community feeling was on this, that we were strongly objecting and would be fighting to stop it”.

A questionnaire has since been launched by the Clifton action groups to measure the opposition to the solar farm. Almost 400 questionnaires were returned, of which only three had no opposition.

David added: “The response has been tremendous. Pretty much everyone completed the forms and confirmed they were against the plans, and we also know it isn’t ‘nimbyism’, as we were able to capture and measure excellent detail on the reasons why people are against it.

“People see this proposed solar farm as a leap too far and the effects are too massive not to fight”

Land proposed to be included in the One Earth Solar Farm.
Land proposed to be included in the One Earth Solar Farm.

Fledborough resident Pam Huntley added: “There is nothing proportionate in this proposal. There can be no positive outcomes for the natural environment, no enrichment of eco-systems, no bio-diversity net gains, no improvement in the opportunities or quality of life of the people who live and work in the afflicted areas, no creation of sustainable jobs.

“The only gain, at a hideous cost, is in the contribution of solar to the national grid and the fulfilling of the government’s renewables strategy.

“Our countryside matters. For the residents, some have homes that will be completely surrounded by solar panels in the One Earth proposal.”

Fields where the proposed One Earth solar farm would be built.
Fields where the proposed One Earth solar farm would be built.

Fledborough parish councillor Madeline Barden said: “We are working together with a common aim to ensure the voice of our villagers is heard in opposition to this devastating proposal.”

There was also a call for the solar farm plans to be considered in relation to other developments planned or agreed for the area, and for affected residents to have more say.

Pam added: “We do not object to change but wish for the community to have some say in the things which impact it the most. Being surrounded by uncountable acres of solar, is just too much.”

Newark MP Robert Jenrick, who has been outspoken on vast solar farm development plans, visited the villages on Friday to speak to residents.

The MP has previously stated: “I’ve always been a staunch supporter of growth in areas such as housing, infrastructure and renewables, but I share the concerns of many constituents regarding the scale of the solar farm proposals in our area.”

While the MP explained he knows the importance of green energy in moving to net zero, but believes “solar installations are well-suited for rooftops, homes, offices, factories and brown-field land” and should be used on agricultural land “sparingly” as to safeguard food security and minimise the impact on the landscape.

He added: “Taken together the proposals for the Great North Road, One Earth, and Steeple Renewables solar farms are of unprecedented magnitude and scale for our area — indeed they would represent one of the largest solar farms in Europe.

“Unless the proposals are radically changed, I will be opposing them and urging our local councils to do the same.”

The MP has also launched a survey to gather constituents views on solar farm plans, which can be found at https:// www. surveymonkey.co.uk/r / SOLARNOTTS. The results are to be shared with councils and the Secretary of State.

“Off –Shore Wind Turbines are currently the answer to all this,” added the Clifton action group.

“Despite the enormous size of the One Earth project at over 3,500 acres, only 12 or 13 of the largest off-shore wind turbines could raise the same amount of energy. This would mean only a small increase in one or two of the large East coast off-shore wind farms such as the Ørsted Hornsea project three or four, or the Lincs Wind Farms, could allow us to keep this countryside, but also meet the same net-zero gains the solar farm would provide.

“As well as support from local district councillors like Linda Dales and Phil Farmer, we’re pleased in the fact that Robert Jenrick is clearly and very vocal in his opposition to these developments, and we are hoping that this backing might help make a difference.”

A spokesman for One Earth said: “The starting point for selecting the project’s location was the grid connection point at High Marnham substation. Because the coal-fired power plant was decommissioned, there is capacity at this location for new energy sources to come online. Grid connections like this are rare, so we need to make the best use of the opportunity available at High Marnham. Once we had secured a grid connection, we identified land in local area that could be included in the project, considering several factors such as the distance to the grid connection, topography, levels of sunshine, and environmental designations.

“It’s important to note that we do not intend to develop all of the land we have identified for the project. While we want to make the most of our grid connection, we also want to ensure we are protecting the local environment and places of local value. Our initial plans included large areas of land that would not be used for solar panels or other development, which would be used for wildlife protection, recreation and amenity, and other environmental enhancements. We are continuing to refine our project design to further reduce the impact to the local environment and community — which could include setting aside more parcels of land, siting infrastructure away from local properties, planting hedges or trees for natural screening, or other mitigation methods to reduce impacts.

“Because of the grid’s capacity at High Marnham, we are looking for available land in this area, which is largely farmland. We want to minimise the use of the most productive agricultural land where possible. We are currently carrying out surveys to help us understand the quality of the agricultural land, which will inform the evolving design.

“An important part of the project’s development is consultation with the community and technical experts. At this point, the project is still in the early stages of its development. Throughout the project’s development, the design will be updated and refined, based on feedback from consultations and results of ongoing environmental assessments. At each stage of consultation, we will be able to provide additional levels of detail, as the design becomes more solidified and key decisions are made. This means that we may be unable to answer questions at this point about details of the final design, which have not yet been decided, but will have more information at the next consultation. We encourage the community and other stakeholders to provide feedback at each stage of the project’s development.

“Last autumn, we introduced our initial designs and asked for feedback. We are currently reviewing all of the feedback we received, studying the results of ongoing environmental assessments, and continuing conversations with technical experts to help refine our design. We will present the updated design along at the next phase of consultation, due to take place this spring.

“We invite anyone who is interested in the project to visit our website for more information, and join our Keep Informed List to receive project updates.”



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