Join the campaign to save our Worcestershire countryside by Phil Coathup, Chair of Roundhill Wood Solar Farm (RWSF) Opposition Group

Life is full of choices. Some are inconsequential; others can have dramatic effects on our lives. One of the most critical decisions centres around how we feed ourselves and keep warm without ruining our precious planet for future generations.  We need to change the way we live to address the current climate crisis – the debate is how?

The current rush to cover our green spaces and precious farmland with hundreds of thousands of solar panels is NOT the answer.  We need clean, green energy – but we also need to eat and protect our British landscape from industrialisation.  Solar has an important role to play in our energy mix – but over 50% of our solar energy needs can be met by putting solar on rooftops where they can safely generate the power we need. 

Worcestershire has become a target for developers, with multiple planning applications for large-scale solar power stations in Bishampton, Grafton, Doverdale, Ombersley, Comhampton – with many more to come. 

One of the most controversial is in Stock Green, near Inkberrow. Over 4,000 people have joined our campaign to stop the huge construction that would not only destroy Tolkien’s last remaining landscape: the one that inspired ‘The Shire’ but also be built on fertile farmland.

We have submitted a comprehensive document, backed by technical experts and academics, setting out our objections.

We’re concerned about the loss of valuable farmland that produces at least two crops a year and is home to numerous birds, bats and other animals. There are many footpaths and bridleways crossing the site including The Millennium Way and Via Beta. The proposal, put forward by the German company RWE,  would see these destroyed by 6 km of high metal fencing. 

My greatest concern is about the safety of the technology and the fire and pollution risks from the 20 lithium-ion Battery Energy Storage Systems to be installed on a site less than 2 miles from a primary school. Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Service have raised major concerns with the council, as these fires are difficult to put out and either result in toxic smoke over a wide area or large volumes of polluted water permanently damaging land and local streams.

There is a better path to meeting our renewable solar energy needs: Rooftop solar panels.  We don’t need to destroy our literary landscapes, our fertile farmland, our green spaces or put our local communities at risk. 

This is the wrong development in the wrong place. 

Find out more on our website www.rwsf.co.uk.