On Tuesday evening, Richard held an Adjournment Debate in the House of Commons on the East Park Energy Solar plant that the developers are proposing in the North East of his constituency.
Richard Fuller MP said:
I called an adjournment debate in the Commons this week to discuss the proposed East Park Energy development - a 1900-acre ground-mounted solar plant and battery energy storage system spanning my constituency of North Bedfordshire and Huntingdon constituency and affecting the parishes of Pertenhall and Swineshead, Bolnhurst, Keysoe, Little Staughton, Staploe and Dean and Shelton in my constituency, as well as the parishes of Hail Weston and Great Staughton in Huntingdon.
I wanted to highlight to the Government points, specific to the proposal, that warrant serious consideration for its rejection.
The scale of this proposal is extraordinary. The footprint is significantly larger than the footprint of Gatwick Airport and will irredeemably industrialise the landscape of open countryside and farmland that has existed there for centuries.
This is not a barren and brownfield wilderness, 74% of the land under the proposal is classified as best and most versatile (BMV) agricultural land - land that is essential to our food security. This is more than almost every single solar plant that has been adopted or accepted to date.
The Government also needs to consider the cumulative impacts of other significant projects in Bedfordshire. This comes in the context of Bedfordshire experiencing housing growth over the past decade at between two and three times the national average, which has placed considerable strain on surrounding infrastructure. Bedfordshire currently has six nationally significant infrastructure projects including the Black Cat roundabout, East West Rail, Universal Studios, the doubling of Luton airport and a new settlement of at least 40,000 houses expected in Tempsford on land that encompasses and abuts land for East Park Energy
I do not believe there has been any adequate consideration of the cumulative impact these big projects may have in the proposal for East Park Energy. The people of Bedfordshire are doing their bit - and more - but with so many significant projects happening all at once, at some point things are going to break.
The Minister has emphasised the need for public trust in the DCO process. Since the election, the Energy Secretary has approved all 12 solar schemes and has yet to refuse any. I believe there are good reasons why he should refuse this proposal.
The government should show that ideology does not trump facts and have the fortitude to say no to this development.
You can watch the full debate at https://youtu.be/cD3p6eoAzSQ or read the transcript in Hansard here.
You can read more about Richard's work on East Park Energy at https://www.richardfuller.co.uk/campaigns/east-park-energy
