The Peterborough City Council in England has submitted a formal planning application to construct a solar and wind farm, expected to cost £331m.
The City Council proposes to set up 500,000 solar power panels and nine large wind turbines as part of the project that will be spread across 900 acres of agricultural land.
The council will provide three blocks of land to install the solar and wind farms, specified under ‘renewable energy parks’ with the project expected to generate £30m in revenues for the local authority.
Local residents have, however, opposed the proposal highlighting that the land on which the solar farm is proposed to be constructed is prime agricultural land.
National Farmers’ Union Peterborough branch group secretary Peter Brewer remarked that this grade-one or two agricultural land is among the best farming lands in the region.
“It will produce significantly more crops per acre than other land, and it seems an odd tactic to take excellent farming land out of production at a time when food prices are going up,” Brewer told Dailymail.