Plans for the huge solar farm on the Romney Marsh near Camber are out for consultation again. The South Brooks proposals have been reduced in size by 20% following discussions last year but will still see hundreds of hectares of land covered in the new panels along with a new battery storage plant at Dungeness.
The South Brooks Solar Farm is being put forward by EDF and PS Renewables, and while the main site is just north of Camber there are other pieces of land connected to the project around Lydd. It is one of a number of solar farms planned for the Romney Marsh.
The new site could produce electricity for 140,000 homes. Matt Hazell, co-founder and director of PS Renewables said, “By making best use of available grid capacity in the area, the South Brooks project would deliver substantial benefits for the environment and the local area. I encourage everyone to review the updated plans, meet with the team and share their comments.”
Plans will be officially submitted next year. A decision on the project will be made by the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero as the project is classified as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project.
The reduction in the size of the proposed solar farm hasn’t convinced campaigners. Amanda Farrant, co-director of Hands Off Our Marsh, said, “We’re being offered a say on how to soften the damage, not whether the damage should happen. That is not local democracy. It is consultation without consent. We are asking for a real say in whether this should happen here at all and whether this marsh land we call home is even appropriate for such vast infrastructure.”
The proposals for the new solar farm were also roundly condemned by Rye Town Council’s Planning and Townscape meeting on Monday 8 June. Councillors agreed to lodge an objection to the plans.
“I stand 100% against this desecration,” said Councillor Fiddimore. “The wild, windswept flat landscape will be ruined.”
“It’s absolutely massive,” said Councillor Rogers. “There are better places for it rather than pasture land. It is just wrong.”
“A beautiful landscape wrecked,” said Mayor Chris Hoggart. “It is an enormous area and wrong to experiment on such a vast scale,” said Councillor Stuart. “It will be a tragedy for wildlife,” said Councillor Hughes.
Two public meetings are being held in coming weeks:
- Friday 3 July (4pm to 7pm) – Camber Memorial Hall, Lydd Road, Camber, TN31 7RJ
- Saturday 4 July (11am to 3pm) – Lydd Community Hall, Manor Road, Lydd TN29 9HU
The consultation runs until 9 July. You can find more details here.
Image Credits: Pixabay via Picryl.com https://picryl.com/media/alternative-cell-clean-science-technology-78f4c9 CC https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/, Hands off Our Marsh .