Tillbridge Solar Project near Gainsborough will cover 3,000 acres and largest in Lincolnshire

Lincolnshire residents will be able to have their say next month on plans for a solar farm bigger than any currently built.

The Tillbridge Solar project would cover around 3,000 acres, with councillors recently saying the size “beggars belief”.

It is the latest major solar farm to be proposed for Lincolnshire, and would be concentrated around the village of Glentworth, between Gainsborough and Caenby Corner.

The government’s Planning Inspectorate will hold public meetings in January to gather evidence on the proposals.

Both the applicants – renewable energy developers Tribus Clean Energy and Recurrent Energy – and local residents and groups will have the chance to set out their arguments.

If approved, the Tillbridge project would be able to power around 300,000 homes.

The schedule for meetings is:

* Environmental matters, such as flood risk and agriculture – Tuesday, January 14 from 2pm

* Open floor meeting – Tuesday, January 14 from 6pm

* Other environmental matters, such as health and wellbeing, visual impact and biodiversity – Wednesday, January 15 from 10am

* Compulsory acquisition hearing – Thursday, January 16 from 10am

All meetings will be held at Lincolnshire Showground and online through Microsoft Teams.

The full agenda is available on the Planning Inspectorate’s website.

The solar farm plans are so vast that they will be determined by the government, rather than a local council.

The Planning Inspectorate will make a recommendation on whether it should be approved, and Secretary of State for Energy Ed Miliband will make a final decision.

Renewable developers say solar farms will provide vital clean energy in the move to Net Zero.

However, Lincolnshire leaders have complained that developments have been unfairly concentrated in the county.

Lincolnshire County Council expressed its concerns last month, formally objecting due to the loss of farmland and the impact on the landscape.

Councillor Tom Ashton (Con) described it as “the thin end of the wedge of climate madness”. Adding: “Its scale and mass beggars belief.

“It will mean the industrialisation of the rural way of life. Imagine every field alongside every road covered in an industrial process – we wouldn’t allow it for anything else.”

Councillor Marianne Overton (Ind) told the committee: “A quarter of Lincolnshire people are connected with agriculture, and it’s sickening the best farmland is being used. Solar farms are acceptable if it’s a field here or there, but it’s folly on this scale.”

Councillor Neil Murray (Lab) was the only objector, saying: “There is a climate crisis, and the council has said no to every solar farm that’s come along. We can’t always say no.”

The government approved two other major farms in Lincolnshire earlier this year – Gate Burton in West Lindsey and Mallard Pass on the border of South Kesteven and Rutland.