“When it’s gone, it’s gone” - Derbyshire campaigners oppose “stonkingly industrial” 155-acre solar farm

Members of the Save Denby Green Belt group hosted a public meeting in the village following the submission of plans from Starlight Energy for a solar farm off Denby Common.

If approved by Amber Valley Borough Council, the project would stretch across agricultural fields between Denby Village, Marehay and the Denby Pottery site.

Plans submitted to the council say the project would be capable of generating enough electricity to power 14,800 homes and displace 15,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually.

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The developer intends to operate the scheme for 40 years, which many residents at the public meeting indicated was or may be beyond their own lifetime and would eclipse an entire generation.

Dave Moore, chair of Save Denby Green Belt, dubbed the plans “stonkingly industrial”, saying: “It will be there for 40 years… I won’t be here then.”

He said: “We live in a beautiful part of the countryside, there are squirrels in my back garden that attest to that – the ecology issue is a problem.”

Mr Moore said fields enjoyed by wildlife would be replaced with “metal and glass seen from miles around”.

He raised issues about “disruption, noise and footpaths enclosed”.

A major concern about the scheme is the construction traffic which is expected to see a total of nearly 8,000 lorry trips over the course of most of a year, equating to 165 a week or six each day.

Residents were also concerned about the potential noise impact of the scheme, which would include a number of electrical inverters.

A report from the applicants says the inverters would average between 18 and 34 decibels at the nearest homes – the equivalent of a whisper – which they say is lower than the existing background noise (27-40 decibels).

Mr Moore said: “Solar panels are not a bad idea but it is a bad idea when it involves putting them on green fields.

“It is Green Belt land but they are trying to say it is ‘greybelt’ because it was opencast (coal mining), but it has been put back to green land for years. It is Green Belt.

“This green space is lovely and beautiful. We don’t want it all silvery.

“It is us that needs to fight for ourselves, we can’t rely on Westminster and we can’t rely on Matlock (Derbyshire County Council).”

Footpaths through the site would have two-metre-high fencing either side, the plans detail, with 3.5 miles of routes to be affected, campaigners say.

Residents raised issues about the potential fire risk posed by the facilities, including the battery storage for the generated electricity.

They also said roads around the site were not capable of accommodating heavy construction traffic and said lorries already shake the houses when they attempt the route.

This includes the 200-year-old Tavernhouses opposite the planned site entrance, which are six feet from the road and without modern standards of foundations.

Cllr Julie Whitmore, a borough councillor, said it was clear residents were “angry and upset” about the scheme and that she would be formally objecting.

Matt Murray, a former borough councillor, said the scheme would represent a “blot on the landscape for 40 years” and would exacerbate existing flooding problems.

He said: “Ultimately, this is one application, but there is another plan for Smalley and it won’t be long before there are more applications and there are plenty of fields that developers could get their hands on and it will get cheaper and easier.”

Cllr Lian Pizzey, a borough councillor, said: “This project is something that has come from incentives that have been put on developing agricultural land for solar.

“We should be using industrial land, car parks, rooftops. Housebuilders should be required to put solar on new developments.”

Cllr Amanda Paget, a borough councillor, said: “I feel the community in Denby don’t want it because of the impact on the Green Belt and the footpaths.

“I oppose anything on the Green Belt. It should be built on brownfield land first, or on rooftops like Tesco in Heanor or Asda in Langley Mill.

“For the developer it is cheaper to go to a farmer for land at the moment. Farmers are struggling as it is and if someone goes to a struggling farmer and wants to lease the land for a solar farm, you are going to think about how your family needs security.”

Starlight was approached for comment but did not respond. It detailed in its application: “The operational and in-construction renewable energy capacity in Amber Valley is only circa five per cent of its demand based on annual averages. 

“The Derbyshire Spatial Energy Study notes that Amber Valley has the second highest domestic carbon emissions in Derbyshire and the third highest non-domestic carbon emissions. 

“This all indicates that there is a substantial shortfall in renewable energy generation capacity in Amber Valley, even if it is assumed that all potential rooftop capacity is taken up.

“Further substantial installed capacity in the form of ground-mounted solar farms is therefore required, without delay, if the council’s net zero aims are to be met.”