The fate of a plan for a huge solar farm in Barkham that will see a farmer kicked off the land is set to be decided tomorrow.
Wokingham Borough Council has applied to build a solar farm with approximately 72,000 panels at Highbarn Farm in Barkham.
The council have said the scheme will generate enough electricity for 8,200 homes and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 94,000 tonnes while it is in operation.
The solar farm will have a ‘lifecycle’ of 25 years. After that point, the land will be returned to agricultural use.
READ MORE: Millions spend on Wokingham solar project which will kick farmer off land approved
But the scheme involves evicting tenant farmer Andrew Lake from the land, who has expressed fears that the land’s use for agriculture could be lost forever.
In an official objection submitted to the council, Mr Lake said: “My livelihood will be irreversibly impacted by this temporary scheme.
“Farming is a critical element of society, producing the food that we all need and the soils capturing carbon too.
“This is putting a nail in the coffin of productive agriculture in Barkham, a rural, biodiverse area which is helping to feed society. There have been many studies on the very positive impact of agriculture on the environment and the fertility classification of the fields shows that the farm has been well managed.
“Is prime agricultural land really required to support a climate emergency when so much construction is being done in this area without, it seems, any cohesive approach to climate agenda.
“Are all council buildings industrial buildings in the vicinity being fitted with solar panels? Is the new swimming pool and car park fitted with solar panels? Are the 1000s of new houses being built locally all being fitted with solar panels? There are so many new houses being built locally without solar panels.
“It is heartbreaking to think that a solar farm which comes from China, is barely viable from an electricity generation perspective is taking there place of a green, wildlife diverse and productive area of prime agricultural land which once it is gone, is gone.”
READ MORE: Farmer speaks out after being removed from land that will be used for solar farm
Mr Lake’s suggestion has been echoed by the Liberal Democrats, which suggested putting solar panels on new developments, covered car parks and Carnival Pool, which is undergoing redevelopment.
His claim the panels will come from China is currently unfounded, but a council spokesman admitted it was ‘unlikely’ that they would be sourced from the UK.
The land the panels will occupy stretches over 52 hectares. The site lies near the Parish Church of St James in Barkham, which is a Grade II listed building. The council has attempted to mitigate the visual impact of the solar farm by tree and hedge planting to provide a green ‘buffer area’.
The church will in part be screened by some of the 15,000 new trees that will be planted on the land as part of the plan.
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The scheme will be decided by Wokingham Borough Council’s planning committee at 7pm tomorrow (Wednesday, September 8).
The application is set to be approved by the planning committee, provided that a legal agreement is made and a confirmation that the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government that they do not wish to ‘call in’ the application for determination.
The secretary of state has the power to ‘call in’ an application when it has national significance. This means that the decision on the application will be made by the secretary, rather than the planning committee.
The current secretary, Robert Jenrick, has already asked to review the application prior to determination to decide whether or not to call it in.
If he does decided to do a ‘call in’ the application an inspector will be appointed to write a report on the plan to assist the secretary in their decision.
But if the Mr Jenrick is satisfied that the scheme is appropriate, he may decide there is no need to determine it and approve it.
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