Asked about the fate of the estate’s tenant farmers, Dominic Hare, Blenheim Estates’ chief executive, said arable farming would cease: “We will start to care for the land more thoughtfully while it recovers and improves under panels.”
Those claims are rejected by Professor Alex Rogers, chairman of Stop Botley West community group, who says taking so much land out of food production would be disastrous. “We estimate that around 8,000 tonnes of food will be taken out of the nation’s food supply per year, making a total of 366,000 tonnes of food lost over the 42-year expected lifespan of the solar panels.”
Solar farms in idyllic rural settings can destroy businesses as well as landscapes. In Cornwall, the hundreds of objections lodged against a 210-acre solar farm planned at Carland Cross, near Newquay, include one from a luxury wedding venue that now faces closure.
“We will have 12 months of noise and dust during the construction stage which makes the venue unlettable,” wrote Kenneth Evans, owner of Hendra Barns, adding that a luxury wedding and holidays venue newly surrounded by an Industrial Solar Farm was unlikely ever to remain viable.
‘No one seems to care’
Solar Energy UK, trade body for the industry, says developments on farmland are essential for the UK to meet its targets for renewable energy.
Chris Hewett, the chief executive of Solar Energy UK, says: “Responsible solar developers will always encourage parties with whom they lease land to handle matters of tenancy in a sensitive manner, but ultimately this legal and commercial relationship is entirely the responsibility of the landowner.”
Who, then, can protect tenant farmers? The National Farmers Union (NFU) has been criticised for doing little – its critics say that although its members include tenant farmers, its ruling council is dominated by those who own their own land.
Tom Bradshaw, the NFU president, says solar farms should be developed on low-grade farmland wherever possible but adds: “Renewable energy production is a core part of the NFU’s net zero plan and solar projects can offer a good diversification option for farmers.”
This week the Government offered some hope when it announced plans to create a commissioner for the tenant farming sector.
“Positive relationships between tenants, landlords and advisors are essential for a fair and sustainable sector,” said Daniel Zeichner, the rural affairs minister.
But buried in the small print he made clear that the commissioner will have no statutory powers, and would be blocked from issuing penalties or publicly identifying poor practices.
For many tenant farmers, the protection of a watchdog with no teeth is no protection at all. Many fear that speaking out against solar developments will prompt their landlords to cut short their leases.
One of them, whose family has farmed 150 acres in mid-Cornwall with cattle, sheep and arable crops for three generations, said: “My grandfather started this farm and my father was born in our farmhouse where I grew up, and my son, too.
“Now my landlords have told me they wanted to put 150 acres under solar panels – and there is nothing I can do about it. My home is part of the farm so I could lose that too.
“We have no idea what to do or where to go. And no one seems to care.”