Latest news with #NationallySignificant
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Huge solar farm will cause major harm, says council
A large-scale solar farm would cause "major harm lasting generations" and should be "dramatically reduced" in size, a council has said. Botley West Solar Farm would cover about 1,000 hectares (2,471 acres) of countryside at three sites in west Oxfordshire. In its final written representation to the government, the district council will say the proposals are "detrimental" to the area. Developer PVDP said it "disagreed" with the local authority and had made several changes to the proposed locations of solar panels. The project - which would see panels installed in countryside north of Woodstock, west of Kidlington and west of Botley - is considered a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project. This means the application must be considered by the government, not local councils. West Oxfordshire District Council's local impact report, written in conjunction with other local authorities that cover the proposed sites, listed 10 areas that it believes the farm would negatively impact. These include the historic environment, visual effect on the landscape, noise and vibration and public rights of way. None of the 17 areas listed were given a potential impact rating of "positive", but seven, including hydrology and flooding, were rated as "neutral". Speaking at the council's planning meeting, Rosemary Lewis, chair of Stop Botley West, said: "It is vital to have the support of the local council. "It is good to know here in west Oxfordshire, at least, democracy is alive and well". However, Witney resident Jonathan Ford urged the council to reverse the verdict of their report. "What is the issue of our time if not climate change... [the council should] acknowledge the clear truth, that Botley West will aid climate change mitigation." Speaking to BBC Radio Oxford, council leader Andy Graham said: "If developers listen to the mitigations that could be put in place, we could actually have a win-win." Mr Graham said he wanted to see the proposed site reduced in size by "at least half". "I think the developers have stopped listening... I'm a little disappointed that they just didn't continue the dialogue." However, Mark Owen-Lloyd, director of developer PVDP, denied that his company had not engaged with the council. "We have consistently bowed to what we've been told and removed panels from [several areas].., I think that's unfair to say we haven't listened," he said. Mr Owen-Lloyd added that 30% of the total site would be "mitigation, wildflower meadows and community growing". If approved, PVDP hopes construction of the solar farm will begin in early 2026, with electricity being connected to the National Grid in 2028. You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram. Public inquiry into huge solar farm to begin Huge solar farm plan 'positive and negative' Why is the Botley West solar farm so controversial? Botley West Solar Farm
Yahoo
20-04-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
A recreational beach in Chincoteague is moving to avoid erosion
The recreational beach at Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge will soon move up the coast more than 2 miles as part of a plan to safeguard the public facility from erosion and storm damage. The beach, which hosts more than 1 million vacationers each year, has historically been hit hard by storm surges and sea-level rise. Major storms such as hurricanes and nor'easters sporadically and dramatically move sand from the ocean-facing side of Assateague Island to its land-facing side, into inlets and bays and onto the shores of Chincoteague. And with the island approaching the mainland at a rate of approximately 10-13 feet per year, there's no room to continue to move facilities to the west. 'Moving the recreational beach to a more stable location north of the existing beach was the only available course of action that could conserve wildlife resources on the refuge, significantly reduce annual and long-term maintenance costs and protect the viability of the local economy,' said the US Fish and Wildlife Service, which owns and operates the refuge. The current recreational beach will remain open this summer and until the construction until the new beach is complete. Construction for the roads and parking areas begins this week and will continue through the fall of this year. Visitor amenities and routes to the beach will start construction in the fall, and those are expected to be finished in April 2026. Help could be on the way for Chincoteague water wells contaminated by PFAS Gray sand will remain in Virginia Beach for now as replenishment project paused over quality Dominion will restart its offshore wind project in May. Here's how whales will be protected. Once completed, the new beach will be about a mile long — similar to the size of the original beach — with parking spaces for 961 vehicles and RV space. Even with the shoreline movement, the service said the new location on the eastern side of the island could support the new recreational beach for at least 25 years. Common issues after storms on the East Coast include repeated damage to boardwalks and parking areas, which are prone to flood and destruction. Even in moderate storm systems like Winter Storm Jonas, which dumped more than 2 feet of snow on the East Coast in 2016, the beach's parking lot can be destroyed. Jonas caused $600,000 in damages and long-term closures, and according to the US Fish and Wildlife Service, more than $15 million has been spent on storm recovery for the recreational beach since 2003. The relocation of the recreational beach is years in the making. In 2015, the project was included in the refuge's Comprehensive Conservation Plan. The Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Park Service submitted grant proposals to fund the relocation, but those were unsuccessful. In 2023, the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Highway Administration announced the $17.7 million award as part of its Nationally Significant Federal Lands and Tribal Transportation Projects Program. Funding for the program comes from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. 'Once the new recreational beach facilities are completed and open, the current beach will be managed as natural beach, dune and saltmarsh habitats,' the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said. 'We anticipate that working with nature will allow for the natural barrier island process to occur, creating habitat for threatened and at-risk species and offering protections to the local community from future storms.' Eliza Noe,
BBC News
28-01-2025
- General
- BBC News
Off-grid home owner opposed to solar farm next door
An off-grid homeowner is fighting plans for a major new solar project in Nottinghamshire, despite living in a house largely powered by solar Gill has sent his comments to the current public consultation for the Great North Road Solar Park, planned north-west of Newark in ring of 'solar islands' with energy storage would have the potential to power up to 400,000 homes - enough to provide electricity to all homes in the Elements Green say they are listening to community feedback and have already redrawn some of their plans in response. Mr Gill, who lives near Caunton, says he objects to the scale of multiple projects in one has been told his 18th century farmhouse is one of nine homes which would be impacted most severely by plans to install 1.5 million panels over 7,000 acres (2,832ha).Elements Green has now agreed to move the nearest panels so they are 100 metres further away from his Gill said: "In a scheme of this size I think it's a reasonable accommodation to make, particularly when there's so few houses that are as severely impacted as ours."But he is still concerned about the outlook from the family home."For about a 1km (0.62 miles) to our west, all the fields are going to be covered in panels as well, which I think is just a bit excessive," he said. Mr Gill has a ground-mounted solar array, a six kilowatt wind turbine and 50 KwH of battery denies that he is a 'Nimby', and called for more solar panels on rooftops in the he added: "I think people don't understand the impact it's going to have in Newark and Sherwood."The Great North Road solar scheme is equivalent to 10 times the size in panelled area alone of Heathrow Runway 3 and this is just one of a number of schemes that are planned for Newark and Sherwood."Mr Gill added: "How much should one community be expected to take?" The planned solar 'islands' project was recently renamed the Great North Road Solar and Biodiversity Park. It would form a ring roughly 6.2 miles (10km) from north to south around the villages of Caunton and Norwell, with the eastern edge alongside the plans include an additional 46km of hedgerows, 19 pathways through private land which will be open to the public as well as about 800 acres set aside for 'wildlife enhancement'.Developers say they will work in partnership with the Sherwood Forest Trust, the RSPB, the Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust and the Trent Rivers Trust. The project would need the backing of the Planning Inspectorate before it could be constructed as it is considered to be a Nationally Significant Infrastructure project. Elements Green is running eight drop-in sessions at venues around the district with specialists on hand to answer recurring questions. The company says, if approved, the park would support UK energy security and make a significant contribution towards decarbonising the UK by generating clean Green executive chairman Mark Turner told the BBC: "We take great pride in the work that we do, in working with the local communities to try to design the project in such a way that it has the least impact."We've changed our plans in numerous ways, both in terms of removing panels from certain areas but also adding woodland."He said the solar panels would be spaced out to allow a "thick mat" of grass to grow to stop water runoff. Elements Green has also proposed a £1m community support fund with a focus on "the environment, education, food security, wellbeing, and energy efficiency". Mr Turner said the company would prepare a submission to National Planning Inspectorate later this year before submitting a planning final decision on the project will be made by Secretary of State for Energy and Net Zero, Ed Miliband.
