Solar farm campaigners take their protest to the skies
Locals are calling for the proposed Lime Down solar farm to be scrapped
Residents campaigning against a massive solar farm in the Wiltshire countryside have taken to the air to make their protest heard.
Protestors from Stop Lime Down marched on Sunday against plans for a 2,220-acre solar farm spread across six locations around Hullavington, Stanton St Quintin, Sherston, and Luckington.
And above their heads, a plane towed a banner which read: “No To Corporate Greed – Stop Lime Down.”
The protestors – many wearing red – insisted they are not opposed to the idea of solar power, but are concerned at the ‘industrial scale’ of the solar farms proposed.
Hundreds met to walk part of the Fosse Way – a Roman Road that passes through part of the countryside that would be affected by the solar farms – on Sunday morning.
The walk was part of 25 national protests against industrial-scale solar farms.
Residents mourned the potential loss of a “beautiful valley” and called for solar panels to be erected on industrial buildings, homes, and over car parks instead.
Local farmer Mike Mitchell said: “I am protesting against all this good farmland being wasted on solar panels when it should be used for growing food.”
Another resident, Sarah, said: “(Solar) should be going on car parks and warehouses. We have acres of car parking that we could all park under quite happily.”
A third, Piers, said: “We’re only going to get one chance to stop this. We know that within a few years alternatives will be available that won’t trash the landscape.”
Island Green Power, which is behind the plans, says the solar scheme will produce enough energy to power 115,000 homes.
The company is owned by Macquarie Asset Management, which owned Thames Water between 2006 and 2017, during which time the utility firm’s debt increased from £3.4 billion to £10.8 billion.
Macquarie’s involvement has prompted local MP Roz Savage to raise the matter in Parliament and describe the ownership of the planned development as a “security issue”.
On Thursday, she told the House of Commons: “We should look closely at the companies behind Lime Down.
“The developer, Island Green Power, is now fully owned by Macquarie Bank, a global investment firm with a track record that should give us all pause for thought.
“During its time leading the consortium that ran Thames Water, Macquarie extracted billions in dividends while letting infrastructure crumble and rivers fill with sewage.
“It is an asset management company. Its job is to make money, and it does it well. It is not a public utilities company.
“It is not interested in home-grown, community-led energy; it is interested in profit. It is not here to protect the beauty of the British countryside or to invest in long-term sustainability.
“Its business model is simple: build big, move fast and maximise returns, whatever the cost to people, nature or public trust.”
Ms Savage was not able to attend the March on Sunday, due to prior commitments, but joined protestors on Friday evening for a fund-raising barbecue.
She said she was “using every tool in the Parliamentary toolkit to further this cause.”