Swaffham Town Council discusses mega solar farm proposals as it joins alliance

“We want renewable energy, but not on this scale,” were the words of a mayor concerned about proposals to build a mega solar farm around his town.

Councillors at Swaffham Town Council’s full meeting on Wednesday were troubled by the plans revealed by RWE to build the solar farm which could power 363,000 homes.

If given the go-ahead, it would be the biggest solar farm in the UK and would be built on land around Swaffham and Breckland.

During the meeting, councillors raised concerns about farmers in the area who would lose their land to the ambitious project - called High Grove Solar Farm.

RWE, an international renewable energy company, has proposed to build a 720-megawatt (MW) solar farm with integrated battery storage which would be located across 4,000 acres of land on five sites in parts of Swaffham and Breckland.

The council voted on joining an alliance with the CPRE (Campaign to Protect Rural England), an organisation which opposes solar farms in rural areas.

Councillor Stuart Bell expressed his concerns during the meeting and said: “Why waste our arable land? We don’t need to import everything.

“To stick that (the solar farm) on good farmland is wrong.”

Deputy Mayor Lindsey Beech added: “Net zero goals can be reached by putting the solar farm elsewhere.

“It is tough enough for farmers as it is.”

Swaffham’s mayor Paul Darby suggested as well as joining force with the CPRE, that the council reach out to neighbouring villages and towns impacted by the potential solar farm.

Other areas impacted include Necton, Sporle and Pickenham.

Cllr Darby said: “Net zero goals are being met here for the whole county.

“I am happy to join this alliance. I suggest we try to contact villages that will be affected around here and have a giant protest about it.

“If we join together, we will have a stronger vice.”

Speaking about the solar farm, Cllr Bell said: “This is about a major amount of profit, I don’t think we should have any support with it.”

Some councillors raised concerns about joining the CPRE.

Cllr John Zielinski said: “I don’t think that we need to join an organisation that we don’t wholly agree with.”

Cllr Beech replied: “It’s about if you agree to be surrounded by a vast solar farm.

“This alliance would give us more weight.”

All but two councillors voted in favour of joining the CPRE.

Cllr Darby added: “This is going to be a big thing for the town and area if we don’t try to fight it.

“We want renewable energy, but not on this scale.”

Proposed site areas for the solar farm would be located north of Swaffham, in Sporle, and on land between Narborough and Swaffham.

It would be the most ambitious infrastructure project of its kind and 15 times larger than Llanwern solar park in Wales, currently the UK’s largest at around 260 acres.

The solar panels would be connected via underground cables, culminating at a new National Grid substation, which would connect to the existing high-voltage electricity transmission network.