The development of solar energy generation in the countryside is one of the most prominent issues in my inbox so I was happy to join a panel at Wolfson College, Oxford University, last night to discuss solar and the rural community. The venue was particularly relevant as Wolfson is at the forefront of research into renewable energy and the event was sponsored by the developers of Botley West, a large proposed solar farm to the North and West of Oxford.
My contribution focussed on public attitudes towards solar and the politics of renewable energy. The Alliance is not opposed to solar in the countryside and understands that it will be a key component in tackling climate change and meeting the government’s net zero target. We are, however, clear about the challenges of gaining public acceptance for land use change on a large scale and the need to ensure that the roll out of solar, wind and associated infrastructure is seen as fairly distributed across society.
We know that people, especially in rural communities, see the countryside as central to how we understand ourselves as British and that landscape is central to that understanding of the countryside. It is inevitable then that fundamental change to that landscape will be instinctively resisted. We can dismiss that as a ‘nimby’ attitude but, actually, it is the logical response of the small ‘c’ conservative.
How to get beyond that instinctive resistance was the question we sought to address, and I have long argued that the current responses just do not work. Telling people that just 1% of the countryside would be needed to produce all the solar power we need is irrelevant if 2,000 acres of that 1% are in your parish.
We believe that a significant part of the current problem is fairness. When people see thousands of new houses and hundreds of acres of new commercial developments in their area with not a single solar panel on any of them, they rightly ask why their rural backyard seems to be the only place where a solar panel can be erected.
Again, the current response that the national grid or local infrastructure cannot support rooftop generation just does not wash. People, quite rightly, will take the view that the infrastructure needs to be sorted just as it has been in countries like France and Germany where rooftop solar is the norm.
Interestingly, there was complete agreement from all the panellists from the NFU, Wildlife Trusts, solar farm developers, local community groups and academics that rooftop solar and fairness were key issues in gaining public acceptance. I was also able to report that the Liberal Democrat MP for Cheltenham, Max Wilkinson - drawn second in the Private Members’ Bill ballot - has proposed a new law which would mandate rooftop solar on all new housing development. We will be supporting that Bill and encouraging the government to go further especially in relation to commercial development.
This is a debate that will continue to grow in volume as more solar farm proposals come forward and unless the burden of solar is seen to be shared fairly across communities, it will become increasingly politically challenging too.