RESIDENTS of Holsworthy have been urged to start building support and a battle fund now if they want to try and defeat a proposal for one of the UK’s largest solar farms being proposed for their neighbourhood.

More than 300 people attended a packed public meeting in Holsworthy Memorial Hall on Friday, October 31, to voice concerns about the plans by Galileo Empower and listen to the campaign group Stop Beacon Solar, the Devon branch of the countryside charity CPRE and Torridge and Tavistock MP Sir Geoffrey Cox issue a rallying cry to work together.

Sir Geoffrey, also a barrister, promised to put together a legal case with help from people in his profession against the application which, if it goes ahead, will see solar panels stretch across four and a half miles of agricultural land at Holsworthy Beacon.

The CPRE said it was on a mission to gather a petition of one million signatures.

Sir Geoffrey said he was “implacably opposed” to the use of 2,700 acres of farmland for solar panels at a time when the security of the nation needing protecting.

“We will only be protected if we gear up our capacity to grow food – the things that we do best in this part of the world,” he said.

He said they had to “hit the right buttons” to make sure their objections counted and urged everyone to write individuals letters expressing their views.

He said if the developers thought they had chosen some “out of the way place” because they felt the communities would not fight this “alien intrusion of Devon land” then they had “another think coming”.

Steve Crowther, chairman of Devon CPRE, called everyone behind the fight “a formidable team” but he urged local people to start fundraising for a “war chest” or a “battle fund” now as it could become costly a couple of years down the line when plans were challenged at the examination stage.

The scheme is a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project because of its size and has to be decided by the secretary of state rather than the district council.

However, Torridge District Council will have a part to play in the discussions and is setting up a special working party to look into all the aspects of the application.

Mr Crowther said the CPRE supported rooftop solar which could easily meet the government’s net zero by 2050 targets and not impact farmland.

Local residents said they were concerned about being surrounded by solar panels, the effect on farmers and the tourism industry, possible compulsory purchase of farms and how the solar panels would be disposed of in 60 years time when the site was decommissioned.

Steve Boulter who is leading the Stop Beacon Solar campaign, which now has nearly 500 followers on Facebook and has set up a JustGiving page to raise money for the fighting fund, claimed there would be 1.8 million solar panels on the site which would take an hour and a half to walk around.

He said it would be a “disaster” for the area.

Galileo Empower said the project was currently in the pre-application stage with detailed environmental studies, technical assessments and community engagement taking place to “help shape the project’s proposals”.

“This stage is a chance for local communities, councils and other key stakeholders to share their views before the application is submitted,” said the developers.

They added that Beacon Solar would play a key role in helping the UK meet its net zero and solar deployment targets and would have a capacity of over 100 megawatts.

The application is due to be submitted in 2027.

Alison Stephenson

LDRS