Garden ‘paradise' under threat from 100-acre solar farm
Tom Stuart-Smith, the award-winning garden designer, said his family's garden would be at risk if St Albans city and district council approved plans for the Beechtree Junction solar farm less than one mile away.
The garden, which has been in his family for four generations, is in Serge Hill, Hertfordshire, and under the plans would be surrounded by 11 fields of solar panels.
The company behind the scheme says it will generate enough electricity to power 13,000 homes for 40 years, adding that an electricity substation would also be built about a quarter of a mile from Serge Hill.
But Mr Stuart-Smith, 65, described the 'huge' solar farm as a 'short-sighted tragedy'.
He said: 'There is one view I have always cherished from somewhere with the delightful name of Ragged Hall Lane. Under the proposal, this view would now be over acres of solar panels.'
Exagen, the applicants for the solar farm, has outlined plans on its website to create a wildflower meadow and allow local beekeeping groups to use hives on the site. Bird and bat boxes will also be installed and new hedgerows planted, the company says.
Mr Stuart-Smith, who has designed eight gold medal-winning gardens at the Chelsea Flower Show, has lived at Serge Hill since 1990 with his wife, Sue, a psychotherapist.
From there, they run a not-for-profit community garden that aims to improve people's mental health and creativity.
'Next year marks 100 years since my grandfather Tom Motion bought Serge Hill. It's hard to imagine what it might be like in another 100 years,' Mr Stuart-Smith told the Times.
'Within a mile we have one planning proposal to remove 40 acres of woodland for a golf course and another to cover about 100 acres with solar panels.
'We all need clean power. Not so sure about golf, but this seems a short-sighted tragedy. The future of open land on the urban fringe has to be as a resource for all.
'I'm not against the proposal in principle, but the current layout shown is completely indiscriminate and inconsiderate.'
The land, currently used by walkers and families, is a habitat for white admiral butterflies which Mr Stuart-Smith described as a 'green lung for the people.'
'Many people walk these lanes, they represent a green lung for the people around here and there are remarkable views over open landscape with fields and woods,' he said.
The fields put aside are classified as Grade 3 agricultural land, which means they are be less likely to be useful for farmers.
But for Mr Stuart-Smith, the plans risk ruining the land. He said the approach needed was the one used to protect one of the favourite pastimes of past Monarchs, when the area around London was preserved as green space for hunting.
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