Wind turbines: blending with the Cambridgeshire landscape
Walking along Fleam Dyke in South East Cambridgeshire, you can’t miss the wind turbines standing tall over the open countryside at Wadlow Farm. The surrounding fields are still used for farming, and the area is open for walkers to enjoy. Wildlife, including the many deer and brown hares, are free to roam and to make the land their home. It’s a peaceful mix of nature, farming, and clean energy. How will the addition of a solar farm impact the character of the countryside?
Solar farm south east cambridgeshire: How will this change our landscape
Contrast this with a walk through a solar farm. Solar farms close off the landscape, with their high fences, CCTV cameras, and security warning signs.
Panels are over 2m high, blocking all views, and footpaths become fenced off into corridors.
During the consultation phase for the proposed Bramley Solar Farm in Hampshire, one resident reflected on the plans:
“Like most people local to Bramley and Silchester, I had heard of the plan to convert a huge swathe of land between the two villages into a solar farm. This development would totally cover numerous beautiful fields alongside a well-used footpath.
The glossy brochure many of us received from ENSO Energy reassured us that it would include wildlife corridors and painted a picture of a rural scene with happy wildlife and sheep grazing below the low-level solar panels.
Being hugely in favour of and fully understanding the need for green renewable energy, I was resigned to thinking it was truly the way forward though very sad to think the lovely open space and magnificent view on my daily walk over the fields would be gone for the next 30–40 years. How could I not want to do my bit to save The Planet and support this move?”
Experiencing the scale of a solar farm
She goes on to describe one of the favourite parts of her daily walk on a gentle slope past an old oak tree and a “lightning tree,” a spot where she often paused to take in the open space. Imagining this serene scene replaced by rows of black, reflective panels, with fences hemming in the path, she went on a visit to the nearby Little London solar farm. It was one thing to hear about the height and scale of solar panels; it was another to see them towering overhead and stretching far into the distance, saying:
“As I wandered along the footpath through the little piece of woodland next to the solar farm I encountered the usual view through the trees, of an open field on one side and a great big fence covered in green (plastic?!) sheeting the other. This fence was topped with CCTV cameras and featured lots of “keep out” and warning type signs. Hardly enhancing the area and actually making it feel more like walking through a tunnel, next to the track/road through the panels themselves. Up close the panels, which I had only seen alongside motorways and other major roads looking quite small, are massive. I had constantly heard the mantra “they are only three feet tall”, maybe at the front but they slope upwards and are much taller than my 5’6’’ at the back.”
Following her expedition, it became much easier to picture the sheer size and scale of the Bramley Solar Farm, which was projected to be at least twenty times the size of the one at Little London.
Solar farm in Cambridgeshire: The bigger picture
Since then, Bramley Solar Farm has received planning approval. This will cover 84 hectares of land and provide 45 megawatts of power for up to 40 years. Compare this to the proposed site of the Kingsway Solar Farm Cambridgeshire, which will cover 1,500 hectares of land, will be bigger than Heathrow Airport, and provide 500 megawatts of power.
The Kingsway Solar Farm represents a significant step in Cambridgeshire’s transition toward renewable energy.
As a word of advice, the resident from Hampshire goes on to say: “ I have become increasingly aware that many people, like me, have no real idea of the scale of this project and the damage it will cause to our wildlife and way of life. I would urge anyone else “sitting on the fence” to do your own research, consider other options before thinking “we need renewable energy, this is the way forward” , walk those fields and paths and try to picture what it will be like. Speak to the local gamekeepers and people who live next to existing solar installations (they are not farms) and listen to what they have to say.”
Have your say on renewable energy projects
Kingsway consultation deadline fast approaching... Don't miss it!
Let’s advocate for renewable energy that works with the Cambridgeshire landscapes we love—not just what works on paper or in a brochure as a good business case.
It is not too late to have your say. The consultation period for the Kingsway Solar Farm Cambridgeshire will end on 12th December. Share your views! >>Click here now to have your say<<.