East Cambridgeshire countryside is being swamped by huge solar schemes, warns parish councillor

A relentless “conveyor belt” of solar energy schemes is industrialising the countryside around Reach and Burwell, leaving residents furious and political leaders warning of chaos.

“It’s shambolic,” blasts parish councillor Nicholas Acklam, who says the community is being let down by a planning system that is stacked against them.

The rapid expansion of solar panel and battery storage developments has left many residents feeling overwhelmed, with 10 projects completed, under way or proposed between the two villages.

“Nobody is prepared to say ‘enough is enough’,” he says, warning that without a clear land use strategy, the area risks being completely surrounded by energy developments.

There is currently a patchwork of solar farms and battery storage sites creeping ever closer to homes, with security fences and industrial sprawl “destroying any sense of countryside”, says Cllr Acklam.

“It’s literally like going down a canyon,” he says, describing the towering fences.

“Unless people like me stand up and say something, it’ll be too late. The logical conclusion is that all of this land will, by degrees, be built on.”

The Reach parish councillor says developers are drawn to the area by the ability to connect to the National Grid at the Burwell substation.

But the risks are not just visual. Cllr Acklam pointed to a recent application for a site within 700 metres of Reach, raising fears about the risk of battery fires and the lack of up-to-date safety regulations.

The Grenergy scheme is with East Cambridgeshire District Council for decision, with the application leading to almost 100 objections.

“There’s no regulation. There’s nothing that says how far from communities or sensitive environmental places you should put these battery storage schemes,” he warns, referencing a major incident in California that led to mass evacuations.

The Moss Landing power plant in California, run by Vistra Corp, was evacuated, as were people in the surrounding area, following a fire in a building – at one of the largest battery energy storage facilities in the world – containing lithium-ion batteries.

A resident living near the Burwell substation has told planners: “I can state categorically that noise pollution from the battery fans is 24/7. Despite the developer’s theoretical claims, the noise is well above background levels . There is another storage facility being constructed on Weirs Drove, a further development has been approved near Newtown Drove. If this current proposal goes ahead a huge area of what was quiet and peaceful Fenland is going to be blighted by constant industrial noise. This is massive over-development to a rural area.”

For parish councils, the onslaught of planning applications is more than just a paperwork headache – it is a “massive undertaking” that drains time, money and morale, explains Cllr Acklam.

“We have six weeks to respond to a 700-page environmental report for the Kingsway scheme,” Cllr Acklam says. “We’re expected to make an informed response, but that’s a massive undertaking for parish councillors.”

Cllr Acklam points to the 2,500-acre Sunnica solar farm, where the Planning Inspectorate’s decision was overturned by the new Labour government in July last year.

“This can’t be good for morale in the Planning Inspectorate that people with a lifetime of experience who have spent years studying the detail of a proposal come to a conclusion and it’s turned over within three days of a government coming in.”

Meanwhile, the consequences for the countryside are stark.

“Nobody is giving us reassurance about when this will stop,” Cllr Acklam warns. “The logical conclusion is that all of this land will, by degrees, be built on. Some of the most productive arable land in the country is being lost, and that can’t be good for food security.”

Cllr Acklam is quick to reject any suggestion that he is a climate change denier or a NIMBY.

“I’m neither of those,” he insists. “Unless we get a better system, then all of this land will be built on, not necessarily today, but over the next decade.”

Despite the mounting anger, Cllr Acklam is also clear that the community is not opposed to the UK’s green ambitions.

“As a community there is support for the principle of decarbonising the electricity system in the UK and a recognition that the substation at Burwell will play a role in that process,” he says. “However, we feel that our voice is not being heard and that our locality is being degraded, primarily for the benefit of others.”

“There is no evidence that there is any upper limit to the number of energy schemes on Burwell Fen or of the number of overhead cables feeding schemes further afield into the grid at Burwell,” he warns.

Cllr Acklam argues that the government’s climate goals could still be met – without sacrificing the local environment – if developers were required to take a smaller profit.

“Run the cabling underground, reduce the density of PV arrays and the state should produce a coherent land use plan for the area, protecting the best agricultural land and creating no-build areas around settlements,” he says.

The fight for a more strategic approach is not just playing out locally – it has reached the corridors of Westminster.

Last Wednesday (10 September), the Liberal Democrat MP for Ely and East Cambridgeshire, Charlotte Cane, used her first speaking opportunity at Prime Minister’s Questions to press the PM on the urgent need for a land use framework with real legal teeth.

Ms Cane challenged Sir Keir Starmer over the government’s decision to approve the controversial Sunnica solar farm, despite strong objections from local councils and the Planning Inspectorate.

She warned that her constituents are worried about Sunnica and future solar farm applications being waved through without a robust framework to balance the competing demands for land.

The Lib Dem called on the Prime Minister to “give the land use framework statutory weight to ensure land is used strategically to maximise potential for renewable energy while protecting farmers, nature, water and housing”.

Sir Keir did not reference the land use framework in his reply.

He responded: “It is important that we move to renewables in order to have energy independence and to keep our bills down and this will benefit lots of communities, including her own. I do want to reassure her constituents that we will, of course, follow process and that they will always have a say in any decisions that we make.”

After the session, Ms Cane did not mince her words.

“The government must give power to the land use framework if it is to serve all demands for our land appropriately and not just to be a vague statement of principle to be ignored,” she said. “I am disappointed and concerned that the Prime Minister did not answer my question, so I will be taking this matter up directly with the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.”

Ms Cane is also running a petition calling on the government to urgently strengthen safety regulations for large-scale battery storage sites.

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