Warm Homes plan welcomed by The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), a Plan that was launched by Energy Secretary Ed Miliband MP on 20 January. CPRE particularly welcomed plans to install rooftop solar as standard on all new homes and the ambition to triple the number of homes with rooftop solar by 2030.
Responding to the announcement, CPRE Campaigns Manager, Jackie Copley said: “We are delighted that the government will make solar panels standard on all new homes and triple the number of homes with rooftop solar by 2030. The government should seize this opportunity to help deliver at least 60% of our total solar energy needs from rooftops. Doing so would help to relieve the pressure that large-scale solar farms place on our countryside, generating the renewable energy we need while protecting iconic landscapes and productive farmland.”
The Government believes its £15 billion ’Warm Homes Plan’ will help millions of families benefit from solar panels, batteries, heat pumps and insulation that can cut energy bills, They also believe that the plan will help lift up to one million families out of fuel poverty and tackle long term energy costs, following government’s recent intervention to take an average of £150 of costs off energy bills for all families this April.
However, the countryside campaign has been highly critical of the deployment of solar energy, particularly larger, so called mega solar, in the countryside. Despite planning policy encouraging the protection of productive farmland, their analysis showed that of the land used by England’s largest operational solar developments, nearly two thirds (59%) was assessed as most productive (BMV Grades 1-3b) and one third as best and most versatile (BMV Grades 1-3a).
In a report published last July, the CPRE showed that large scale solar farms were putting vital agricultural land at risk, despite readily available alternatives like solar on rooftops. They called on the government to avoid any further loss of good quality farmland to mega solar by offering more acceptable solutions.
Locally, last October the Yorkshire Post reported that more than 300 solar farm developments were already in the pipeline for Yorkshire and the Humber; whilst each month fresh applications for major solar development in the countryside were being made.
A recent poll by the countryside campaign found that 75% of Britons believe existing measures to protect specific areas of land should be strengthened in the countryside. The findings are part of a report exploring how the public wants to balance protecting Britain’s green spaces with other pressing national priorities, such as the need for affordable housing and any transition to renewable
energy.
Commenting on the report and poll, Jenny Riddell-Carpenter MP, chair of the Labour Rural Research Group and MP for Suffolk Central said: “This research by CPRE and More in Common confirms what we all know that protecting and enhancing our countryside is important for people across the country.”
Settle Energy Local Club is leading on increasing the amount of renewable energy produced locally, especially from solar panels. Find out more about the Club here.