Panic in Wales over ugly giant solar farms ruining farms | UK | News

Communities in rural Wales are grappling with the devastating impact of solar farms in the name of climate change, which they fear could devastate tourism, threaten food production and destroy vital wildlife reserves.

Labor has set ambitious targets to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and cut emissions by 68% by 2030, and has pledged to triple the UK’s ability to generate solar energy over the next five years. But while wildlife experts fight the government to prevent developments, they say you can’t destroy nature to protect it. In the sprawling green landscape of the Gwent Levels near Newport, almost a fifth of eight Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) could be threatened if all planned solar projects go ahead, wildlife experts say.

“It’s an irreplaceable landscape. Once it’s gone, it’s gone. It can’t be brought back because of the history that developed it,” says nature restoration manager Gemma Bode. Gwent Wildlife Trust.

“Wildlife can be really resilient and come back, but there is no coming back from that,” he adds. The proposed Rush Wall Solar Park is earmarked for a historically significant site where the drainage network was built by the Romans.

Gemma says nationally important species at risk include water voles, water bugs, dragonflies and rare shrill comb bees, found in only a few areas in the UK.

It’s not the first time the site has been hacked. Campaigners have previously blocked the M4 motorway from passing through the area, and nearly 6,000 people signed a petition to stop major developments on the Gwent Levels when the Llanwern Solar Farm is built in 2020.

Gemma points to Llanwern as evidence of the damage; lapwings haven’t returned because they can’t nest under the panels, shrill comb bee populations have seen a “dramatic decline” and bat populations have “collapsed”, he says.

“We must do everything we can to protect our pollinators,” he says, emphasizing that they contribute millions of lira to the economy by pollinating food.

“We are on protected land, we are in a protected area, so planning on this scale should not be done,” he says. “This shouldn’t be discussed. That’s what protection is for.”

They are now calling for a moratorium on all developments and clarification of government narrative. They say a change to the text of planning policy, which states there should be no developments on SSSIs unless there is a “completely exceptional circumstance”, has made the rules unclear.

“We thought it would protect places, special places like this. But in the most recent hearings we’ve seen developers say this is a completely exceptional situation because of climate change,” adds Debbie Stenner, the charity’s head of fundraising and communications.

“The Welsh Government has declared a climate emergency and a nature emergency. They are together, not separate.”

Gemma adds: “Renewable energy is needed, but not where such sensitive wetland wildlife of national importance is.”

This is also an issue on Anglesey, where Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth said he was a “big fan of solar energy”. But he notes that the problem lies in the “sheer scale” of the developments and that it “shouldn’t be anywhere near that”.

“We can do this in much more innovative ways that don’t have the profound, profound impact it would have on our society,” he explains.

A project at Alaw Môn will see panels installed on 660 acres of land in central Anglesey, while developments at Maen Hir will be “absolutely massive” and almost five times the size of Cleve Hill, the largest active solar farm in the UK.

Lighsource bp said the project would deliver “economic, social and environmental benefits” but ap Iorwerth said the community would get almost nothing in return for the work.

Ap Iorwerthr stresses that it is “particularly frustrating” to lose farmland in a place that is Wales’ breadbasket, and also fears the panels would create a blemish on the rolling landscape that is attractive to the two million tourists who visit Anglesey each year.

Because of the view, you can see the “mile and mile” panels. He says this goes “well beyond nimbyism”, with some villages “essentially besieged”.

It’s not just solar panels that are fueling the debate. Red squirrel habitat at Bryn Cadwgan, part of the Cambrian Mountains in central Wales, is at risk from wind turbines.

A proposed energy park project threatens to “destroy at least 40 hectares of forest”, according to the South West Wales Wildlife Trust, which has one of three remaining red squirrel populations in Wales.

“It’s actually a pretty sad time to be working in conservation. Many of our native species are already at risk of extinction,” says senior conservation officer Adam Dawson.

“Shy” creatures are at risk of losing their habitat because an access road would cut through the forest, creating a huge amount of open space, which would present them with many problems.

“When they’re not in thick canopy, they feel very stressed, and that stress affects their ability to feed,” explains Adam. [and reproduce].”

This also makes them much more vulnerable to predators and directs them to areas where they are vulnerable to squirrel pox, which can be transmitted through contact.

“They get huge sores and lesions on their faces and around their necks, and they actually die a very slow and lingering death from dehydration and starvation, because they can’t feed at all anymore. It’s really awful to see,” adds Adam.

He points out that this could harm “many endangered species,” such as water voles, bats and bird species.

“The Wildlife Trust fully supports the development of renewable energy, but only in the right places where it is appropriate,” he says. “But in our opinion, this is just the wrong development in the wrong place.”

He is calling on the Welsh government to take a new approach, taking endangered species into account at the beginning of the process rather than after investing in a particular area.

Regular visitors to the site in Gwent, Stephanie and Roderick White, say covering the area with solar panels is a “crazy idea”. Originally from Swansea, these people started reaching “valuable” levels in quarantine.

“We found the nature reserve during COVID and have since started coming here to break our journey and get a real experience of the amazing aquatic environment,” enthuses Stephanie. “There is an incredible variety of wildlife in these channels.

“It would be to be able to take the wildness of this area and come here and see what we have, which is so valuable for people like us who come from an urban environment.”

He also points to other solutions, such as putting panels on parking lots. It’s a call that resonates with all parties: to build on existing infrastructure, such as industrial warehouses. Adam Dawson says it seems “really obvious” and would be a “really easy win.”

“I live in a building whose roof is completely covered with solar panels. If you are going to use solar energy, do not displace biodiversity,” he adds.

In response, a spokesperson for the Welsh Government says: “The planning system has a significant responsibility in securing positive biodiversity outcomes and responding to climate change. Future Wales and Planning Policy Wales aims to respond to both climate and nature emergencies.”

A spokesperson for Newport City Council adds of the Gwent Levels plans: “This development is classed as a Development of National Importance under the planning regulations and has been granted conditions by the relevant Welsh government minister. However, councils are liable if any conditions imposed are not complied with.”

“It remains the developer’s responsibility to implement a development in accordance with consent. While councils across Wales do not have the resources to actively monitor development sites, they do respond and investigate breaches when problems arise. Enforcement action is taken when all other options fail.”

The Express has contacted Lighthouse bp for comment.