{"id":370055,"date":"2025-08-24T15:39:11","date_gmt":"2025-08-24T15:39:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/370055\/"},"modified":"2025-08-24T15:39:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-24T15:39:11","slug":"proposed-sutton-on-the-forest-solar-farm-attracts-local-criticism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/370055\/","title":{"rendered":"Proposed Sutton-on-the-Forest solar farm attracts local criticism"},"content":{"rendered":"

A proposed new solar farm, to be built on agricultural land in North Yorkshire, would negatively impact endangered bird life in the local area, objectors to the scheme have said.<\/p>\n

The 49.99 MW farm would be built on land close to Sutton-on-the-Forest.<\/p>\n

In a planning application to North Yorkshire Council, developer Ampyr Solar Europe said the 95-hectare scheme would power 24,400 homes and save 21,000 tonnes of CO2 per year.<\/p>\n

However, some concerned local residents said the proposed site was “good arable land” which feeds threatened species such as corn buntings, yellowhammers and yellow wagtails.<\/p>\n

The energy developer said the proposed site, on fields off Brownmoor Lane, would comprise rows of solar panels laid out horizontally. <\/p>\n

Plans state the panels would be mounted on metal frames facing north-south to maximise the absorption of sunlight.<\/p>\n

The applicant claimed the land used for the solar farm would not occupy premium agricultural land and, if permission is granted, the farm would stand for 50 years.<\/p>\n

Supporting documents state the proposed development would cause some adverse impact visually, and on the landscape, but it was deemed “less than substantial harm” to the setting of a nearby Grade II-listed farmhouse.<\/p>\n

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service<\/a>, several local residents have submitted objections to the application, which was filed last month.<\/p>\n

One resident said: “This application is for monetary gain only, nothing to do with saving the planet or adding to biodiversity.<\/p>\n

“The land is good arable land, not the downgraded fields, the applicant suggests.<\/p>\n

“It’s land rich in corn buntings, yellowhammers and yellow wagtails, all under significant threat. What use are additional hedges or grass to these birds? They need arable crops.”<\/p>\n

Another objector said: “The majority of this land is capable of supporting grassland and cereal crops, and no doubt has done since it became farmland.<\/p>\n

“Losing it for 50 years seems such a shame, as food production in this country may become valued again within this time frame, potentially making the return from letting land for solar generation less financially attractive.”<\/p>\n

The council hopes to make a decision over whether to approve the application by October.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A proposed new solar farm, to be built on agricultural land in North Yorkshire, would negatively impact endangered…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":370056,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3843],"tags":[728,70,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-370055","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-environment","9":"tag-science","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115084497266322458","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370055","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=370055"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/370055\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/370056"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=370055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=370055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=370055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}