CARE - Campaign Against Rural Exploitation

01/04/2025

Extraordinary that here we are, a quarter of the way into the 21st century, and 314 Members of the UK Government just voted in favour of slavery. 🤯

How is it that something as brilliant as solar energy generation could be keeps being turned around by our leaders into something disastrous for nature and for our fellow citizens?

Great British Energy Bill: Motion to disagree with Lords Amendment 2

02/02/2025

Marvellous Matt…

19/11/2024

We have to start doing solar without waste.

01/11/2024

Petition - please sign!

Those of us using the lanes around “Birch Solar Farm” will be aware of the enormous damage done to our roads and verges by the huge trucks involved in its construction.

It’s become increasingly dangerous for pedestrians as so much of the bank has been destroyed that in places it’s virtually impossible to safely get off the road when necessary.

The same, of course, goes for its sister plant in Layer, where a petition has been created to present to join and upgrade the footpaths around the solar site to provide safe passage for pedestrians, cyclists and horses.

Here’s what Lucy, who created the petition says:

I know many of you walk, ride or cycle in the area. 🦮🚲🐎

I am campaigning for the Layer solar farm development to provide a COMMUNITY off road, multi user path to link up the walking, riding and cycling routes. The farm runs parallel to Birch road, a national speed limit road with a high level of traffic and several blind bends.

This has been ongoing for over 2 years and I really need the support from the community for that final push.

It would make a big difference to us to be able to access our public rights of way network safely.

The farm caused much disruption and this is a great way to give back to our communities.

Please sign if you can 🚲🐴🦮

It’s completely free and the best thing you can do is to share.

Thank you! ☺️

https://www.change.org/p/link-bridleway-31-layer-de-la-haye-to-footpath-24-birch-for-improved-safety-and-access

Link Bridleway 31 Layer de la Haye to Footpath 24 Birch for Improved Safety and Access

29/10/2024

Local followers: info event today for another farmland development.

22/10/2024

Stayed in France 🇫🇷 a few weeks ago and it was great seeing solar where it should be:

- covering the local supermarket car park and
- off farmland and on farm buildings.

In France car parks with 80+ spaces now have to have panels. This is expected to provide power equivalent to 10 nuclear generators.

❤️ solar that doesn’t waste resources.

21/10/2024

A sister campaign in Cornwall produced a really helpful video demonstrating the impact of farmland solar on nature, local communities, businesses and those poor old mythical solar sheep.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?si=fvO-sHAuKtxqjDIW&v=Pzzhshp05us&feature=youtu.be

Here’s the link to the application:

https://planning.cornwall.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=documents&keyVal=RSADN1FGHU900

From heart of the Hendra Valley, undulating hills unfurl in a tapestry of emerald, their verdant swells punctuated by the dark, lush density of woodlands, an...

12/10/2024

This is the field that was saved from industrialisation - this time.

It has been sustainably farmed by tenant farmers for a number of years and ultimately it was too hard for the developer to keep trying to make the case that piling panels into the land would somehow enhance biodiversity here.

However, the cabling it has installed to link up with its next solar site along the road runs through regeneratively-farmed land.

And just out of view beyond the ancient woodland that was the largest roosting site for Red Kite in Essex last winter (maybe not this…?) will sit the shipping containers of lithium batteries.

As the CEO of one of Germany’s largest solar developers told investors earlier this year, it would take years to get permission to do this sort of development there. Hence he absolutely recommended the UK as the place to be for farmland development.

Incidentally, in 2023 Germany installed as much solar as the UK has in total, because there they focus on getting it on rooftops, and that’s way quicker.

12/10/2024

Every few minutes this noise stops for a few seconds, and all you can hear is birdsong…

12/10/2024

Update on Low Carbon’s industrialisation of sustainably-irrigated farmland for conversion to solar. (Sound on if you can stand it 😳)

One of the great myths of farmland solar development is that land removed from food production for solar will be able to be de-industrialised and returned to agriculture in (typically) 40 years’ time.

In creating this ‘site’, the narrow local lanes have so far endured a fairly constant stream of huge aggregate trucks for over 5 months.

The two container lorries seen in the video have travelled about 600m across fields from the farmyard.

Does anybody have any idea how much aggregate it’s taken to get them there?

Does anybody believe there is any genuine intention to revert to farmland or is this just so far in the future that it won’t be a problem for those who lobbied for it?

This is one small field on a 100 acre site, but to give an idea of the scale of the issue, this one developer has over 1,500 acres of farmland applications at various stages of development in Essex alone.

Current UK total for greenfield sites under threat of solar development is over 92,000 acres. See https://www.uksolaralliance.org/ for more detail.

For fellow campaigns across the country wanting to demonstrate the reality of permitting rural solar to their LPAs, this noise has been fairly constant, 5.5 days a week for 5 months - so far.

05/08/2024

Solar generation needs to start being about the environment.

We are too far into the global climate crisis to only view it as an opportunity.

Investment company Atrato Onsite Energy has acquired a 50MW ready-to-build solar project in Richmond, North Yorkshire.