CPRE the countryside charity                            OSE0019

Written evidence submitted by CPRE The countryside charity

1. CPRE is the countryside charity that campaigns to promote, enhance and protect the countryside for everyone’s benefit, wherever they live. With a local CPRE in every county, we work with communities, businesses and government, nationally and locally, to find positive and lasting ways to help the countryside thrive.

2. We know that the climate emergency is the single greatest threat facing our countryside and in our campaigning we have been calling on the government to accelerate the transition to a net-zero energy system whilst ensuring that we see renewables done well that protect our landscapes, carry community support and bring economic benefits to rural towns and villages across the country.

3. We believe that rooftop solar schemes, in particular, offer significant opportunities to reduce electricity carbon emissions, rapidly lower domestic and business energy bills, and achieve low landscape-impact multi-functional land use, that have yet to be fully exploited. So, we strongly welcome the Environmental Audit Committee’s decision to launch an inquiry into onshore solar energy. At this stage we have largely concentrated our comments in the question in the call for evidence relating to: Does Government policy and current planning guidance adequately address the issues raised by proposals to install solar farms on land with high agricultural or ecological value? However, work we have in progress will, in the coming months, generate further evidence on both this issue and other elements of the call for evidence.

4. In recent months there has been increasing political interest in the extent to which large ground-mounted solar developments are taking up best and most versatile (BMV) agricultural land, and thereby potentially frustrating the ability of the country to grow more of the fresh produce we need using our own agricultural land. In 2022 CPRE published research[i] into recent patterns of development on high quality agricultural land, the first such analysis to take place since a government-sponsored study in 2010. From our available data we found that, between 2010 and 2022, there were 14,415 hectares of Grade 1, 2 and identified Grade 3a agricultural land covered by development (Figure 2). Of this, 8,035 ha were used for private housing developments totalling 287,864 houses. Another 1,400 ha were used for renewable energy developments including solar, illustrating that housing developments have had 55% of the impact on BMV land take. In total, this 14,415 ha represents a 0.6% loss of our total identified BMV agricultural land of 2,272,782 ha (Table 1). Figure 2 also highlights that since 2010, there has been an overall increase in the amount of BMV agricultural land used for new developments, with a particular spike for projects with a start date of 2022.

5. Defra Minister Lord Benyon, in a June 2022 House of Lords debate on food security remarked that ‘very strict rules relate to both planning and the use of the best agricultural land ’, in relation to a major solar development which has been given permission on BMV land in Suffolk. CPRE’s evidence would appear to support the Minister’s comment and suggest that current policies have been reasonably effective over the past ten years. However, with almost half of appeals involving BMV land (albeit mainly for housing) being allowed by the Planning Inspectorate, it could also be reasonably argued that these policies are not strong enough.

6. CPRE would however question whether it is realistic or sustainable to rely on the current developer-led large scale ground-mounted approach to increasing solar energy generation in this country in the medium to longer term. Already it is resulting in significant opposition, particularly from rural communities that are threatened with the industrialisation of their surrounding landscape. Consequently, an increasing number of greenfield solar applications are being refused by local authorities, especially larger schemes[ii].

7. We believe that much more can be done through the planning system to integrate solar technologies into new housing or other built development, through in particular bringing forward implementation of the Future Homes Standard and setting more exacting zero carbon standards for new build than the Standard currently contains. Furthermore, along with solar panels on surface carparks, existing rooftops have an enormous untapped potential to host solar panels, not only helping domestic and business users reduce their reliance on expensive electricity from the wholesale market, but also minimising conflict and delays in the planning system.

8. DECC’s UK Solar PV Strategy 2014[iii] found 250,000ha of south-facing commercial roofs alone. Other countries are already showing how much more could be achieved with France passing legislation requiring all car parks with space for at least 80 vehicles to be covered by solar panels[iv], while Germany has delivered 80% of its installed solar capacity on rooftops.[v] And in England, parish and town councils such as Kendal in Cumbria are already taking the lead in identifying the potential of rooftops to generate more solar energy within communities[vi].

9. To better understand the true potential for rooftop solar in England, CPRE is commissioning new research from University College London (UCL) academics into the possible generating capacity of roofspace across the country. We hope to publish this research before the 2023 local elections and although we are unable to provide further details within the timeframe of the current call for evidence, we would welcome the opportunity to discuss our findings and associated policy recommendations with committee members, including through providing oral evidence.

10. We look forward to discussing this important issue with you in more detail in the near future.

Paul Miner

Acting Director of Policy and Campaigns, CPRE

December 2022

Endnotes