Ahead of a debate in Westminster Hall on Tuesday 3 November, the Countryside Alliance has shared a briefing note about use of agricultural land for solar panels.
The full briefing note can be downloaded here, with the key points summarised below.
- 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.
- 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 last year 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.