A farmer says his dream will be ‘destroyed’ if a solar farm developer wins permission to put a major cable across his land without his consent. The developer behind the 3,000-acre Tillbridge Solar Farm wants to lay the main cable across Nicholas Hill’s fields in Marton.
He says this means he would be unable to build the farmyard he’s worked towards for years. Tillbridge Solar Ltd plans to use compulsory purchase powers to carry out the work if the government grants permission for their project.
Mr Hill purchased the land to the west of Marton High Street in 2022, not knowing that solar farm developers were eyeing it as a route to the nearest grid connection. Up to four solar farms currently in consideration would also take the same route, potentially each taking a 10-metre wide strip on which he couldn’t build.
Mr Hill has turned the 16-acre plot into a successful farm, but fears the cables would ruin the business’s future.
“It’s always been my dream to own and farm my own land,” he told the Local Democracy Reporting Service. “I had no idea when I bought this land in 2022 that these solar farms wanted to go through this land.
“I have managed to turn this into profitable land, and have got planning permission for two machinery barns and a farmyard, plus permitted development rights to develop the farm further with agricultural buildings.
“I wouldn’t be able to build wherever the cables lie, which would totally restrict the site. It would effectively destroy it – the farmyard could easily be unviable.
“I don’t want the developers’ money – I just want to follow this dream and leave this land behind for my family. It’s a shame so many farmers are happy to put solar panels on their land.
“It’s their greed that has created this problem. This is a prime location – there’s nowhere else as good that I could build this.”
The proposed Tillbridge Solar project near Gainsborough, West Lindsey
(Image: Tillbridge Solar website (https://tillbridgesolar.com)
The cable would take power from the solar panels, near the West Lindsey village of Glentworth, to Cottam substation. Mr Hill’s situation was discussed at the final day of public hearings on the solar farm on Thursday (January 16), which planning inspectors will use to make a recommendation to the government.
Richard Griffiths of Pinson Mason, speaking for the applicant, argued that the cables wouldn’t unnecessarily restrict the farming business. “This is the balancing act for the Secretary of State [Ed Miliband, who will determine the application],” he said.
“He has to consider possible future uses of the land balanced against a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project that will contribute to our energy use in a vital way.” He claimed that finding a different route for the cable would affect even more people and countryside, and they were only acquiring as much land as they needed.
The meeting was told that negotiations were ongoing with a number of other landowners, with most expected to sign voluntary agreements in the next few months.
If the application is approved, the developer would have the power to force through compulsory purchases for the remaining plots. A decision is expected to be made later this year.