Andrew Griffith MP, with the full support of Horsham MP Jeremy Quin, has written to the Secretary of State for Housing and Communities to ask that he ‘calls-in’ a decision from Horsham District Council who last night (21st May) granted permission to build a large solar farm at Cowfold.
By asking the Secretary of State to call-in the decision, Andrew Griffith is asking for the government to assess and determine the application for themselves, pointing out that the councils’ decision had not considered the Written Ministerial Statement from the Energy Secretary Claire Coutinho, which states that agricultural land must be protected from development, including solar farms, for the purposes of food security.
Horsham District Council’s planning committee south – made up of councillors led by the Liberal Democrats in coalition with the Green Party – approved the application by 11 votes to 4, with one abstention. Conservative councillors did not support the application.
Their decision has granted permission for Low Carbon UK – an investment firm – to build on 45 hectares of farmed land owned by the Camelia Botnar Foundation, displacing the tenant farmer who farms 17 of the fields with crops and dairy cattle. One of the last remaining dairy farmers in the area.
The significant development would stretch across three large parcels of land in beautiful countryside, located north of the A272 Cowfold Road, and includes a solar photovoltaic farm, associated infrastructure, substation, transformers, and security fencing.
Andrew Griffith is sceptical of the investment company’s goals and has pointed out to the Secretary of State, Michael Gove, that Low Carbon UK proposed production levels to a maximum of 49.9MW. Any site that proposes production of 50.0MW or more would have to be dealt with as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) and therefore be determined by the Planning Inspectorate on behalf of the Secretary of State.
The MP points out that careful calibration of this application appears to be a calculated manoeuvre to ensure the planning application was determined at a local level.
Andrew Griffith says that he echoes the concerns of local residents and nature groups are alarmed at the scale and location of the proposal which is on fields which are farmed with crops and dairy cattle. It is an area rich in bio-diversity, located close to the Knepp Estate and the Weald to Waves project area.
Horsham MP, Jeremy Quin, is supporting the appeal to the Secretary of State. He commented:
“The focus of solar should be rooftops and non-productive land. The recent Government statement has made quite clear the importance of agricultural land. Even as we improve our energy mix protecting and enhancing the natural environment is of critical importance.”
Andrew Griffith MP said:
“Horsham’s approval of this application declares ‘open season’ for solar speculators and their financial backers of the few unspoiled areas which Horsham’s LibDem Green coalition don’t already plan to build houses on! There is nothing green or sustainable in foreign built solar panels displacing local food production or nature recovery. This is why I have written to the Secretary of State, because I feel strongly that this cynical application flies in the face of what the government are doing to protect food and energy security.”
