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Longfield Solar Farm: Shapps gives go-ahead to vast scheme near Chelmsford

Longfield Solar Farm: Shapps gives go-ahead to vast scheme near Chelmsford

Monday 31 July 2023

One of the largest solar farms in the country is to be built near Chelmsford. Longfield Solar Farm will cover 940 acres of arable farmland between the planned Chelmsford Garden Village and Terling, having been granted development consent by Grant Shapps, Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero. The decision followed an Examination […] Read more >

Rooftops and car parks can power the country to more than half its solar energy targets, finds new CPRE report

Rooftops and car parks can power the country to more than half its solar energy targets, finds new CPRE report

Friday 26 May 2023

More than half of the solar panels required to hit government net-zero targets could be fitted on rooftops and car parks, a new report for CPRE, the countryside charity, has found. The research, by the UCL Energy Institute, shows that decarbonising the grid requires far less land than previously feared. The government is advised to […] Read more >

Unleash potential of rooftop solar to tackle energy crisis, CPRE urges Chancellor

Unleash potential of rooftop solar to tackle energy crisis, CPRE urges Chancellor

Thursday 17 November 2022

Changes to planning policy could turbocharge the rollout of solar energy and help reduce reliance on gas at little or no cost to the public purse, analysis by CPRE, the countryside charity, has shown. Ahead of the Autumn Statement, CPRE is urging the government to target rooftops, car parks and brownfield sites for a rapid […] Read more >

Solar farms: booklet highlights the factors to consider when deciding on proposals

Solar farms: booklet highlights the factors to consider when deciding on proposals

Thursday 8 September 2022

The issue of solar farms is never far away as the applications continue to flood in and CPRE Essex has already issued a policy statement on the matter. We have also got together with our friends and neighbours at CPRE Hertfordshire, along with a range of other organisations, to produce a booklet entitled The Problem […] Read more >

Farmland that could grow 250,000 tonnes of vegetables a year lost to development, CPRE research shows

Farmland that could grow 250,000 tonnes of vegetables a year lost to development, CPRE research shows

Wednesday 20 July 2022

Two million fewer people can be fed their five a day from vegetables homegrown in England as prime farmland lost to development Food security concerns increase, with 60 per cent of England’s finest agricultural land at the highest risk of flooding from climate change Almost 300,000 homes have been built on prime farmland – with […] Read more >

All About Solar: your chance to join free event tackling a contentious subject

All About Solar: your chance to join free event tackling a contentious subject

Wednesday 20 April 2022

It’s one of the countryside issues of our time: the spread of solar farms across our landscape. The subject is brought into focus tomorrow (Thursday, April 21) in a webinar entitled All About Solar, during which CPRE Essex’s own Richard Haynes will be speaking on the impact of solar farms on landscape and heritage setting. […] Read more >

Uttlesford council blocks plan for solar farm

Uttlesford council blocks plan for solar farm

Tuesday 19 April 2022

Uttlesford District Council has refused permission for a solar farm that would have crossed into another local authority area. The scheme, proposed by Endurance Energy, would have covered 115 hectares near Bishop’s Stortford in a development called Wickham Hall Solar Farm straddling Uttlesford and East Herts district councils. However, on Wednesday, April 13, Uttlesford District […] Read more >

Concerns over wildlife impact, road safety and nearby power lines sink plans for solar farm

Concerns over wildlife impact, road safety and nearby power lines sink plans for solar farm

Thursday 10 February 2022

So they can be stopped… Plans for a solar farm to be built between Manuden and Berden, on the Essex-Hertfordshire border, have been blocked by Uttlesford District Council. Low Carbon Solar Park 6 had applied to both East Herts and Uttlesford district councils for permission to develop its Pelham Spring solar park but failed to […] Read more >

Veganuary, solar farms, neonicotinoids, greenwash… it’s all there in the first talk of our winter series

Veganuary, solar farms, neonicotinoids, greenwash… it’s all there in the first talk of our winter series

Friday 28 January 2022

The first speaker in our series of winter talks didn’t pull any punches when he got things under way this week with The Importance of British Food Production. Essex farmer Tom Bradshaw, vice-president of the National Farming Union, gave the talk via Zoom to a healthy audience of 29 people on Wednesday (January 26). Launching […] Read more >

Councillors go against officers’ advice and approve Herongate solar farm

Councillors go against officers’ advice and approve Herongate solar farm

Thursday 2 December 2021

Essex is to get another solar farm. The scheme, targeted for Herongate, west of Dunton Wayletts, was approved by Brentwood Borough Council’s planning committee on Tuesday, November 23. Councillors rejected their officers’ advice to refuse permission on the grounds that the solar farm was against the local authority’s policy and “unacceptable” on Green Belt land. […] Read more >

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