Solar farm will be built on ‘poorest performing’ farmland near small Cambridgeshire village

The solar farm will operate for 45 years, which will allow the soil fertility to improve

A solar farm has been approved on farmland next to a small Cambridgeshire village. Huntingdonshire District Council’s development management committee met to decide on the application for land off Vicarage Lane in Diddington, just west of the A1.

Buckden Parish Council and Southoe and Midloe Parish Council had objected to the plans as they said “there should be no more solar farms on greenfield sites until all residential and commercial roof spaces and brownfield sites have been fully utilised”.

Edmund Thornhill spoke in favour of the application and said the solar panels, expected to generate 35MW of electricity, are proposed on the “poorest performing” fields.

He said: “There needs to be careful consideration around best use of land even if that use is for a finite period – the farm already provides food, housing and space for nature. We want to support energy production as well over the poorest land.

“This scheme would provide diversified income to help fund moving to more regenerative agriculture on the rest of the farm.”

Around 45 hectares of land will be covered and the solar farm is expected to operate for 45 years, which Mr Thornhill said would allow the soil fertility to improve. The company behind the plans, Cell Energy Limited, said it has an agreement with Anglian Water to provide the company with energy.

An underground cable will be built to their facility at Grafham Water which the planning application said was a “very significant energy user”.

Cllr Jon Neish, of Holywell-cum-Needingworth, said he couldn’t see a reason to object to the plans aside from the parish council’s objection.

The Conservative councillor said: “Unfortunately they haven’t come to explain a bit more in detail their views so at the moment I would struggle anywhere to say why we shouldn’t agree with it.”

Cllr Lara Davenport-Ray, of St Neots East, said renewable energy projects are “really important” as natural gas is still used to generate much of the electricity in the area.

The Green councillor said: “If we don’t stop creating carbon emissions then our planet will continue to warm and it will make the growing of any crops impossible. I am disappointed to see no battery storage included but because of the overall direction that we need to go in I will suggest that we approve this application.”

The plans were approved with 12 voting in favour and one against.