Giant solar farm the size of 1,200 football pitches approved despite losing fertile arable farmland for 60 years

Giant solar farm the size of 1,200 football pitches approved despite losing fertile arable farmland for 60 years

A solar farm the size of Heathrow Airport has been approved, despite the scheme meaning that swathes of arable farmland will be lost for 60 years. Green Hill Solar Farm will cover almost 3,000 acres of land across Northamptonshire and could power 200,000 homes when operational. But more than two-thirds of this land - the size of almost 1,200 football pitches - falls on "best and most versatile" (BMV) soil, the type most suitable for growing crops. This cannot be used for arable farming for the 60-year lifespan of the project. Ten acres of this BMV could be lost to farming permanently because of work needed to accommodate a battery storage site and a substation. TRENDING Stories Videos Your Say Local MP Sarah Bool said of the Government's approval: "It makes you question their commitment to our nation's food security." The solar farm, which would rank among the largest in the UK, will sit on land north of Northampton and extend to Buckinghamshire. The plans met fierce objections from locals, who argued it threatened UK food security as well as changing the nature of the landscape. Ms Bool, Tory MP for South Northamptonshire, and fellow Conservative, Stuart Andrew, the MP for Daventry, both opposed the development. In February, they delivered a petition to Downing Street, with more than 1,600 signatures. Campaigners said, while they supported renewable energy, the scheme was "the wrong scale and size of solar farm, and it's going in the wrong place in Northamptonshire". But Green Hill Solar said the 500 MW farm would "benefit Britain with clean, secure, low-cost energy". "We need to get large amounts of renewable energy in the system to help ensure energy security and combat climate change – as well as helping reduce people’s energy bills," it said. Planning inspectors had recommended the scheme be approved by energy secretary, Miatta Fahnbulleh. The final decision notice said Ms Fahnbulleh was "satisfied that the proposed development would co