Solar farm proposals increase in size
Plans for a solar farm near Spalding have increased in size by around 200 hectares since they were first announced.
The Meridian Solar Farm, which would generate electricity for more than 200,000 homes, was originally estimated at 900 hectares last year.
The developer Downing Renewable Developments said it is still fine-tuning the proposals and wanted to hear from residents before a planning application is submitted.
Stage two of the company's consultation began on 24 April and runs until the 8 June, with three in-person events for members of the public.
Information put out by the developer said only around 600 hectares would actually have solar panels on, with the rest holding infrastructure such as cables and battery storage.
Most of the project would be focused near Spalding and Crowland, with a fourth area to the east near Sutton St Edmund.
David Vernon, head of nationally significant infrastructure projects at DRD, said: "We're inviting the public to learn more about and provide feedback on our developed proposals, which is important to help us shape our final designs.
"We encourage anyone with an interest in Meridian Solar to take part in the consultation," he added.
According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, it is expected that the plans will be submitted later this year.
If approved, the project would be operational by about 2029 and would produce renewable energy for up to 40 years.
The Meridian Action Group, who are campaigning against the solar farm, say it's vital that residents make their feelings heard.
The group say the facility should be placed on brownfield land instead of good quality farmland, which they believe would threaten food security.
Spokesman Paul Smith said: "Be in no doubt, without comments from the public, especially those to be most affected, this scheme will steamroller through exactly as proposed.
"Your comments, views and opinions will only count if you express them now," he added.
The public consultation meetings will be held at:
Sutton St Edmund Village Hall – Saturday 10 May, 10:30 – 16:30 BST
Crowland Snowden Pavilion – Wednesday 21 May, 14:00 – 20:00
Weston Village Hall – Thursday 22 May, 14:00 – 20:00
Listen to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.
Europe's biggest solar farm 'could desecrate fens'
Council leader hits back in solar farm land debate
English farmland could be cut by 9% to hit green targets
Local Democracy Reporting Service
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Business Insider
6 hours ago
- Business Insider
Din Tai Fung's co-CEOs talk legacy, TikTok virality, and the art of making Americans fall in love with dumplings
For Aaron and Albert Yang, hot soup dumplings are their legacy. The two brothers are the grandsons of the founder of Din Tai Fung, the world's most recognizable dumpling chain. Now, they're the co-CEOs of the chain's North American business and the third generation to helm the family business. Din Tai Fung — or DTF, as its followers have affectionately nicknamed it — has humble origins as a small oil shop in Taiwan. The brothers' grandfather, Yang Bing-Yi, moved from mainland China to Taiwan in the 1940s and worked in a local oil company. Yang later transitioned to selling xiao long bao, or steamed pork soup dumplings. Din Tai Fung is known for those dumplings to this day — as well as for its precision. Each xiao long bao weighs exactly 21 grams and is pleated exactly 18 times before it's closed. The chain has become a global dumpling superpower, with more than 173 outlets in 13 countries, including Singapore, the UK, and Australia. There are 21 Din Tai Fung outlets in the US and Canada, including new stores in Manhattan and California's Disneyland. And for the Yangs, the dumpling business is serious business: Every Din Tai Fung outlet in North America churns out over 10,000 xiao long baos every day, the chain told BI. A duty to carry on the family business Growing up, the brothers helped out after school in their parents' first US Din Tai Fung in Los Angeles. Aaron described the outlet as "very mom-and-pop." "Our parents are immigrants to this country, and English wasn't their first language," said Aaron, 33. "I have a lot of memories of them struggling with things that come with running a business in a foreign country." Aaron said they both went to Cornell University to pursue hospitality degrees so they could take the business pressure off their parents. "It definitely felt like a duty growing up," he added. They would also go to Taiwan every summer to visit their grandfather. "When he first started the restaurant in 1972, he lived above the restaurant with his family, so he would basically go downstairs for work," Aaron said. "Even as he got older, he lived literally across the street from the restaurant so he could see the restaurant, the first original location, from his window. He always wanted to keep an eye on it, even when he was retired and his kids had taken over," he added. Like their grandfather, both men think that being a good leader requires working on the front lines. "We had a meeting about how we can improve our dish washing station, and if I didn't go to Vancouver and stand there in the dish washing station, I'd have no idea," Albert, 32, said. Albert also does product tastings every Wednesday. "There's some exciting stuff, like new menu items. But some stuff isn't exciting. Like realizing, 'We need backup string beans' or 'backup, backup string beans,'" he said. Americans love chicken, and that's a problem for Din Tai Fung These days, DTF offers casual dining. Some of its restaurants are simple in decor; others are more elaborately furnished, with red chandeliers and dark wooden accents. In its Manhattan store, a steamer of 10 xiao long baos costs $18.50. Other popular dishes, like the string beans with garlic and the cucumber salad, cost $17 and $9, respectively. When I asked what their biggest challenge is in terms of consumer tastes in the US, their answer was immediate. "The No. 1 protein in the US is chicken. I think a lot of our American diners might be surprised if they find out that Taiwan doesn't even sell chicken fried rice," Albert said with a laugh. Taiwanese customers, he said, have a pork-heavy palate. "There are a lot more dietary restrictions in the US, which make the dining culture a little bit different compared to the original stores in Taiwan," Albert said. "In the years that I've been here, we did chicken wontons, and now the chicken xiao long baos too. "We added a beef item, and also vegan wontons," he added. The TikTok effect While Din Tai Fung doesn't have an official TikTok, videos of customers dining on its crunchy cucumber salad and biting into its oozing chocolate dumplings have regularly gone viral on the platform. Other popular customer videos highlight chefs rolling out dumpling dough in open-plan kitchens and diners digging into wooden dumpling trays. The cucumber salad, served in a neatly stacked pyramid of cucumber slices drenched in sauce, has even spawned a legion of TikTok videos devoted to copying the recipe. "We've been lucky with TikTok, we don't have our own TikTok account," Albert said. "I think our level of execution provided us some opportunity to get lucky on TikTok, and we really blew up on it. But it was all organic," he said. The CEOs said Americans, particularly younger customers, love Din Tai Fung's chocolate xiao long baos. While the brothers, who are based in California, have tailored the menu to suit Western palates, they say there's a limit. "We'll get the occasional comment of, 'Why don't you guys do like a cheeseburger soup dumpling or something?'" Aaron said. "I'm sure we would sell a lot of, I don't know, cheeseburger, dumplings, or Chinese chicken salad, or orange chicken items that Americans are used to seeing and eating," Albert added. But he said Americans, particularly those in major metropolitan cities, were craving authentic experiences, and so sticking to original recipes was important for them. "We just pride ourselves on trying to carry on this tradition and just staying true to our roots," Albert said.
Chicago Tribune
9 hours ago
- Chicago Tribune
Aurora considers giving $500,000 to VNA in support of newly-opened clinic
The city of Aurora is considering giving VNA Health Care $500,000 in support of its newly-opened clinic at the Bloomhaven campus on Aurora's near East Side. The current proposal, which is set to go before the Aurora City Council for final approval on Tuesday, would split the payment in half, distributing $250,000 this year and $250,000 next year. This year's amount is set to be paid from city interest earnings, and the funding source for next year's payment will be decided during the 2026 budget process, according to Aurora Chief Financial Officer Chris Minick. The funds are going to support the opening of VNA's new Primary Care Center at 323 Weston Ave., which offers primary care and pediatrics as well as urgent care, mental health care, outpatient physical therapy, podiatry, OB/GYN, vaccines, lab testing, nutrition counseling and more, with all services offered in both English and Spanish. The organization invested around $8 million in the clinic, and financial planning for the project included the $500,000 pledged by the city, according to a city staff report about the project included with a recent committee meeting agenda. Staff said in the report that the funds were pledged because of the 'nature and extent of the medical services provided by VNA to the Aurora population in general and specifically to the neighborhood surrounding the development.' Although the $500,000 was pledged by city administration last July and formally recognized through a letter signed by both former Mayor Richard Irvin and VNA CEO Linnea Windel, the agreement never went before the Aurora City Council for approval, nor was it included in the 2025 budget. VNA's agreement with Aurora was that, once the clinic was fully built-out and received a Certificate of Occupancy, the city would pay out the full $500,000, according to the signed letter. So, after the certificate was issued in April, VNA came to the city to ask for the funds. The proposal was then set to go through the process of getting Aurora City Council approval, which starts at one of the City Council's committees. But when Mayor John Laesch's incoming administration saw the item, which was planned to go before the Finance Committee on May 15, just two days after Laesch was inaugurated, they were confused about why it hadn't previously gone before City Council for approval, and they requested the item be held so more research could be done. That's what Aurora Chief of Staff Shannon Cameron told the Finance Committee on May 29, the first time the proposed $500,000 payment to VNA was publicly discussed by members of the Aurora City Council. An item like this one most likely should have gone before the Aurora City Council for approval when the agreement was made, she said at the time, and it seems like it was simply an oversight of the previous administration. In addition to the signed letter, there were also many emails from city officials pledging the funds to VNA, according to Cameron. 'While it is a bit of a legal gray area, whether we actually owe the funds, we are in support of the VNA and the work it does,' she said. 'We want to make good on this promise.' At various Aurora City Council committee meetings, Minick has said the funds were not included in the 2025 budget because of the timing of the agreement. The proposed payment was again held at the May 29 Finance Committee meeting after several aldermen questioned and discussed how this happened. Ald. Edward Bugg, 9th Ward, said it is a 'disservice to our citizens' when things come before the Aurora City Council for ratification after they've already happened. When this has happened in the past, departments were told this is 'not how we do business in the city of Aurora,' he said. Minick agreed with Bugg and said ratifications will be held 'to an absolute minimum' and be used only for emergencies. This is an early cautionary tale to the new administration, Cameron said, to make sure everything goes through the proper process. The item came back before the Finance Committee on June 12, this time with a proposed change by Minick: pay out half now and then half next year. VNA tentatively agreed to this change, according to the staff report. Ald. Ted Mesiacos, 3rd Ward, who chairs the Finance Committee, said Minick's proposal was 'very equitable.' Aldermen on the Finance Committee recommended for approval the amended proposal, with Bugg voting against. The Committee of the Whole, which sets the agenda of the upcoming Aurora City Council meeting, reviewed the proposal at its meeting Tuesday and decided to place the item on the 'unfinished business' portion of the June 24 Aurora City Council meeting agenda. That means the proposal will be discussed and voted on separately from other items, which is typically done if an item is particularly important or controversial.
The Verge
11 hours ago
- The Verge
How Donald Trump and Ryan Reynolds can easily sell you phone plans
Blame Ryan Reynolds. With a new wireless brand from the hosts of SmartLess emerging last week, and the debut of Trump Mobile this week, it sure seems like there's a hot new trend in Celebrities Selling Things: phone service. How did it come to this? Why can't they just stick to tequila? I talked to a couple of experts about the situation, and it's not entirely the Deadpool actor's fault. But also: it is kind of his fault. To be clear, none of these celebrities / political figures are building new cell networks from scratch. What they're launching are Mobile Virtual Network Operators, or MVNOs. These are companies that buy wireless service from the three big US carriers and re-sell it. It's a business model that has existed for decades, Techsponential analyst Avi Greengart tells me. 'They address market segments that carriers can't or don't want to address with their main brands,' he says. Older customers, people whose first language isn't English, people with bad credit — they're all prime targets for MVNOs. It's an attractive arrangement for the big carriers since they may have extra network capacity that would otherwise go unused. 'They get a guaranteed return on their network investment,' Greengart says. 'If you're T-Mobile for example, you might have spare capacity on the network that you've built. So it makes sense to basically rent some of it out.' 'Mint Mobile proved that you could build the business if you could generate your own audience.' MVNOs may be decades old, but I can't shake the feeling that I've been hearing about them a lot more recently. Gerrit Schneemann at Counterpoint Research says that 5G may be partially behind that. The additional capacity that 5G allows compared to LTE is helping more MVNOs get off the ground. 'Having 5G networks available, you have the capacity to actually run these [MVNOs] and to some extent, may not be as capacity constrained in some places,' Schneemann says. On top of that, MVNOs are more attractive to customers than ever. The rise of eSIM technology has also helped reduce the friction in signing up for an MVNO, Schneemann says. Also, since we're handling more and more of the services we use every day strictly online, people are also probably more willing to sign up for an MVNO than they were five or six years ago. And then there's the Ryan Reynolds of it all. In 2019 he bought an ownership stake in Mint Mobile, an MVNO using the T-Mobile network, and became the brand's spokesperson. The combination of clever ads and a unique pricing model won a lot of people over and turned it into a lucrative venture for Reynolds, who sold the business to T-Mobile — the company that was already running Mint's network — in a deal worth up to $1.35 billion. Greengart thinks that was a tipping point for the MVNO business, or at least, the celebrities-backing-MVNOs business. 'Mint Mobile proved that you could build the business if you could generate your own audience … And that has attracted other people who have or can create audiences.' That's how we wound up living in a world where the President's family's company sells wireless service, which I don't think is a scenario any of the Founding Fathers could have foreseen. And as weird as that concept is, Greengart thinks it's kind of a natural fit for Trump's whole business ethos. 'The Trump Organization is a branding operation, even in real estate.' He points to the company's licensing business model of charging developers to use the Trump name on their projects — without having to risk its own money on it. 'That's kind of what an MVNO is,' Greengart adds. Where there's a captive audience, there's a marketing opportunity; so the saying goes. Or something like that. Either way, I don't think this is the last time we'll hear from a public figure ready to sell us wireless service. Guess we have Ryan Reynolds to thank for that.
