Tory wins vote to put giant solar farm by protected River Test... from his own council
IT IS one of the world’s finest spots for trout fishing and scene of a dramatic escape in Watership Down. But a local Conservative councillor has provoked outrage by winning planning permission to build a massive solar farm on the banks of Hampshire’s River Test – which critics say will destroy the fragile ecology and blight the landscape.
When complete, the 150-acre project at Eveley Farm, near Houghton, Hampshire, will cover the equivalent of 85 football pitches with 189,000 reflective solar panels.
The site could generate enough electricity to power thousands of homes. But Councillor Daniel Busk, who stands to gain a share of up to £5million a year from the project on his land, has been accused of hypocrisy after voting to refuse permission for a similar, smaller project in the past.
As a member of Test Valley Borough Council’s planning committee, Mr
‘He says this won’t be an eyesore, but it is’
Busk rejected a 20-acre solar farm in a less sensitive location in 2012, on the grounds it would damage the area’s natural heritage.
Mr Busk did not take part in discussion of the scheme currently being built on his family trust’s land near Houghton, which was formerly used for arable crops.
But if completed it would be one of the biggest solar farms in Britain, opposed by at least 100 local residents, and on their behalf lawyers are challenging Test Valley Borough Council’s decision.
High Court papers seen by The Mail on Sunday point out that in 2014, the Government took action to discourage solar farms being built on greenfield sites like Eveley Farm, saying they should be approved only when there are no brownfield alternatives, such as disused airfields.
But the lawyers argue that Mr Busk and the council have made no attempt to see whether the panels could be built elsewhere. The Test and its banks are designated Sites of Special Scientific Interest and opponents say the Eveley Farm scheme, just half a mile from the Test, will be widely visible from viewpoints such as Danebury Ring, an Iron Age hilltop fort.
They also accuse the council of ignoring a report showing the Test’s rare river-flies might lay eggs on the shiny panels instead of water. That, in turn, will affect bird and bat species and jobs dependent on the fishing trade.
The middle and upper reaches
‘HYPOCRISY’: Mr Busk said no to similar plans in the past of the Test are world-renowned for their trout, with celebrities such as Eric Clapton and Jeremy Paxman known to fish there. The river also plays a part in Richard Adams’s novel Watership Down, when the rabbits escape from their enemies on a punt, and later have to swim under a bridge less than 20 miles from Mr Busk’s proposed solar farm. Mr Busk’s application was approved just before a change in policy came into effect that meant greenfield solar panel projects such as this will no longer qualify for subsidies. But if completed before next April, it will get the full subsidies for its 25-year life. John Constable, director of the Renewable Energy Foundation, said this would amount to about £2.6million a year, adding if the farm produces electricity 12 per cent of the time, it will generate a further £2.5 million annually from selling power to the National Grid.
Sarah Jane Fairey, a local landowner who opposes the plans, said: ‘Mr Busk says he took no part in the committee’s deliberations, but obviously he knows the other councillors well and he rejected a similar scheme three years ago. He says this won’t be an eyesore, but it is.’
Mr Busk failed to respond to requests for comment.