On Sunday, June 8th, Richard will be joining local residents and many thousand others across the country concerned about plans to impose super large-scale solar power infrastructure on our countryside and locally against the 1,900 acre East Park Solar Farm which will be a massive blight on the countryside of North Bedfordshire and sprawls over the border into Huntingdonshire.
Richard Fuller MP said:
The National Community Walk is a coordinated event timed to start across the UK at 10am. In North Bedfordshire, it has been organised to take place close to part of the massive proposed East Park Energy solar facility in Little Staughton.
The event should take no more than an hour or so and will be an easy walk of around two and a half miles (with a shorter option). The National Walk is a chance to show opposition to the East Park proposals – and for everyone to get an idea of the vast scale of the plans and how they would impact our countryside.
Few disagree that solar can have a role to play in the overall portfolio of renewable energy as a means of reducing our reliance on fossil fuels, but increasingly concerns are being raised over the scale and suitability of the placement of solar farms. We all support growing the provision of renewable energy streams but surely not at the expense of prime agricultural land and not before fully exploiting the roofs of warehouses, car parks and supermarkets.
Of the 1,900 acres that the East Park Energy proposal would cover with solar panels, 74% of this is classed as Best and Most Versatile (BMV) Agricultural Land. Destroying BMV land makes no sense given the enormous untapped acreage on the numerous warehouse roofs that line the A1 and A421 in my constituency. For years I have been advocating for the use of rooftops for solar energy, and I will continue to push for a halt on massive ground installations. As a fully signed up CPRE Rooftop Solar Champion, I believe there must be a far greater focus on utilising the rooftops of warehouses, supermarkets, and car parks as places to harness this form of energy.
Find out more about the local walk here: https://stopeastparkenergy.com/join-the-national-walk/
You can also read more about Richard's position on solar farms here: https://www.richardfuller.co.uk/campaigns/solar-farms
