Countryside Alliance briefing note: Solar Farms

The Countryside Alliance fully supports net zero carbon emissions for the UK as an 
environmental and economic policy objective. We are conscious, however, that 
achieving this aim will require the maintenance of public support, including from 
the rural population. 

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Accepting that the drive to net zero involves costs as well as benefits, rural Britain 
must not be required to bear burdens that are impractical and disproportionate. 
Other important objectives, principally food security, must not be sacrificed. 

A perception has been allowed to develop that agricultural land has become the 
default option for solar energy infrastructure because it can be cheaper than 
alternative sites when deployed at scale, not because it is the right social and 
environmental option. 

 During debates over the Energy Act 2023, the Countryside Alliance supported a 
range of amendments in relation to solar farming that we believed would improve 
the position of rural communities by promoting a fairer balance between demands 
on them and on urban areas to contribute to energy transition. We subsequently 
supported the New Homes (Solar Generation) Bill brought by Max Wilkinson MP. 

 We welcomed the government’s indication at the start of this month that it would 
mandate rooftop solar on new homes but have urged it to go further. A rooftop-first 
strategy must include commercial and public buildings, which offer vast potential 
for clean energy generation. 

Other government priorities, including the drive towards net zero carbon emissions, 
can only be sustained as long as there is food on the shelves. The interests of food 
security require that food production must continue to be the primary use for 
productive farmland.