South Holland District Council unites behind motion to protect area’s food producing from energy projects
‘Our skies are not for sale’ is the defiant message from a united council which is fighting to protect south Lincolnshire’s fertile land from ‘stealth’ energy projects.
South Holland District Council gave unanimous support to the motion put forward by Coun Laura Eldridge calling on ‘national authorities and infrastructure project planners to recognise the importance of the Fenland landscape and South Holland’s role as a food-producing area’.
Large solar farms, pylons, sub-stations and underground cables are among the many projects which have been earmarked for South Holland - prompting fears for future of the area’s rich soils and for the nation’s food security.
The word ‘stealth’ was used a number of times during a debate as councillors felt that the plans were shared ‘piecemeal’ to cloak their true extent rather than all in one go — but fears over public apathy were also highlighted as a possible barrier to fighting to protect the area.
Coun Eldridge kicked off the debate by stating: “South Holland is currently faced with the threat of multiple nationally significant infrastructure projects which if granted would remove swathes of land from crop production.”
The Saints councilllor told members that there was a ‘very real threat to our farms and home grown produce’ with Greater Lincolnshire producing 30% of the nation’s vegetables, 30% of sugar beet and 12% of all food.
Coun Eldridge said that she supports the concept of clean energy - but not at the expense of food security and also added that any green savings would be offset due to the need to import food.
During a passionate speech, Coun Eldridge said the individual impact of any of the projects would be ‘enormous but the cumulative impact is catastrophic’.
Coun Eldridge, who received a round of applause at Wednesday’s meeting, said that it would ‘short-sighted, ruthless and irresponsible’ to threaten food security.
“We are the custodians of South Holland we need to sure we do everything to protect and preserve our district for past and future residents.
“South Holland District Council should present a united front to the Labour government who are holding us hostage at any cost and are hell bent on destroying our countryside and fenland landscape.”
Her motion was supported by Coun Angela Harrison who highlighted the apathy among many residents as these projects are not happening in their area.
“Everything is coming out piecemeal which make it difficult to see the bigger picture,” Coun Harrison told the meeting.
The Crowland councillor highlighted the importance of the countryside in her speech and questioned how ‘green’ the energy will be considering the panels will be made in China and shipped over.
She also raised concerns that the construction companies will be widening roads and filling in dykes so heavy machinery will be able to get to the sites, adding: “We can eat by candlelight but we can’t eat if there is no food.”
Spalding councillor Gary Taylor branded the government ‘out of touch’ and ‘hostile’ to the countryside and added: “Our skies are not for sale.”
He also challenged Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, and Energy Security and Net Zero minister, Ed Miliband, to come to Spalding Marsh and meet campaigners.
Following the fight faced by the council over the funding of Internal Drainage Boards, Coun Paul Redgate questioned if the concrete used in these projects would exacerbate problems if the land is unable to absorb the rain.
Coun Mark Le Sage said he was 100% behind the motion and felt these were ‘stealth’ applications.
He said: “One thing I do worry about is apathy if so many people who don’t understand what is going on.
“We need to fight to protect our Fenland landscape.”
Another Spalding councillor, Aaron Spencer said: “This a stealth application to devastate Lincolnshire.”
Planning portfolio holder Coun Henry Bingham told the meeting that one of the proposed sites is nearly twice the allocated land for commercial and housing for South Holland for the next 20 years.
“What it is is towny Labour looking to rural communities rather than affect major population sites. The damage is on us as there aren’t enough of us.”
Fellow cabinet member Coun Liz Sneath raised fears about the size of the substation at Surfleet Marsh and the impact of birds nesting in the large amounts of trees which will be planted to shield it. She added that the ‘right tree in the right place’ was vital.
Council leader Nick Worth, who believes that this was the first motion in his time as a councillor, said: “We have an ever increasing population, we got housing targets to meet and increase the population even more. Everyone needs to eat, we should be producing more food not less.”
But leader of the opposition, Coun Rob Gibson felt the motion needed to be stronger and that the council should be demanding answers from the companies with their ‘made-up’ costs for pylons.
But he said that the Weston Marsh substation - which had been approved last year by the Conservative Government - was the draw for these companies to come to Lincolnshire.
He said: “We need to stand and fight, we need to stop that substation - none of this would be coming through here.
“I will support the motion as I love this area but I do feel that we should go further.”
Holbeach councillor Sophie Hutchinson said she supported the motion but wanted to be more than symbollic by calling for changes to the authority’s planning policies.
She said: “Realistically it is not just down to central Government, we could be doing more as an authority.”
Council chairman Andrew Woolf said: “The word stealth is being used and that needs to be with a capital S. What they are doing is doing a tick box exercise to say we have consulted with the public, yes we put on an event in a village hall but not many people came. Not many came as they didn’t know about it. This why we need to get the message out there. It needs to be a collective fight.”
‘We need a united approach to present to Government’ says councillor fighting pylons and solar farms
The councillor who put forward a motion to protect the fens against the invasion of energy infrastructure is calling on the public to get involved.
Coun Laura Eldridge was over the moon that her motion which called on national authorities to recognise the importance of the Fens was backed by her colleagues at South Holland District Council.
Speaking after the debate she said: “I am pleased to have the full support of the whole council, as I said it is a very small step for a big issue and we have a long road ahead of us.
“Hopefully we will get the support of the partnership. This will start to apply pressure on central government to protect our farmland.”
“I would like residents get behind it. It is getting everyone to have a united approach to present to central government.”
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