The struggle over land use in Lincolnshire intensifies as the leader of the county council, Councillor Sean Matthews, takes a defiant stand against the government’s approval of the massive Tillbridge Solar project, projected to power approximately 300,000 homes. With plans recently greenlit by the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, Matthews has vowed to take extreme measures, including ‘lying down in front of bulldozers’, to prevent the development he describes as ‘vandalism’ of the county’s beautiful landscapes.
The significant scale of the project, spanning around 3,000 acres (1,214 hectares), classifies it as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP), thereby shifting decision-making power to the government. This project joins a growing list of solar farms and infrastructure slated for Lincolnshire, which has sparked controversy among local authorities and residents.
Critics, including Matthews, argue that the solar farm represents an unnecessary industrialization of prime agricultural land. He argues that genuine commitment to tackling climate change would involve mandating solar installations on new buildings, rather than appropriating farmland. Concerns about the cumulative effect of multiple large-scale infrastructure projects have also been raised by West Lindsey District Council, whose leader, Jackie Brockway, emphasizes the importance of preserving local farmland, particularly in the current European context.
Local residents, represented by the 7,000 Acres campaign group, express support for renewable energy, but advocate for solar installations on brownfield sites and rooftops, which they believe are more suitable as locations for such developments.
In contrast, proponents like Chris Hewett from Solar Energy UK defend the expansion of solar farms, arguing they offer the lowest electricity costs in the UK and contribute significantly to the shift away from fossil fuels. He insists that the land designated for the Tillbridge project represents only a negligible fraction of the agricultural land, with no substantial threat to food production. Moreover, he highlights that solar farming can provide additional income for farmers, helping them to mitigate risks associated with unpredictable market conditions.
The Tillbridge Solar project, a collaboration between Tribus Clean Energy and Recurrent Energy, is set to include infrastructure necessary to connect to the National Grid at the Cottam substation in Nottinghamshire, underscoring the urgency of the debate over energy needs versus land preservation in the region.
