Community unites on threatened farmland as campaign to stop solar farm in Onibury gathers force.

Dozens of local residents gathered yesterday on the fields at the heart of the Keep Shropshire Beautiful campaign, standing on the 130 acres of Grade 1 and 2 farmland that a pan-European energy developer wants to cover in solar panels for the next 40 years.

The gathering at Upper Walton Farm, between Walton and Vernolds Common near Craven Arms, brought together farmers, families, business owners and supporters from across South Shropshire, United in opposition to a proposed 22.2 megawatt industrial solar farm by developer ILOS.

Stuart Anderson, Member of Parliament for South Shropshire, joined tenant farmer Rob Alderson and local councillors Josh Dickin and Colin Stanford on the land. Mr Anderson, who helped bring about the abandonment of the 600-acre Ironbridge Solar project near Much Wenlock earlier this year, said the same pattern was now repeating itself in South Shropshire.

Speaking on the site, Mr Anderson said: “We are losing our farmlands and we are losing the beauty of South Shropshire. I will be fighting to see that this doesn’t happen and we are not going to cover our farmlands in solar panels.”

Rob Alderson the tenant farmer, who has farmed this land for decades under Countryside Stewardship schemes without chemicals, said: “These developers are robbing me of my livelihood.”

Councillor Josh Dickin, Liberal Democrat member for Craven Arms and Deputy Portfolio Holder for Communities on Shropshire Council, said: “This is some of England last bits of untouched land, and its not about whether this is on their back doorstep, it’s about how much this land means to the community

Councillor Colin Stanford, Conservative member for Corvedale and a member of the Shropshire Hills National Landscape Partnership, said: “I am all for the diversification for farmers, but this farmer will lose about a third of his farm, If this project goes ahead. It’s a business opportunity for someone else, not a way of sustaining our local farming community.”

Susan Lockwood Chair of CPRE Shropshire said: “Don’t use our agricultural land, we need our farmers we need food in this country. If you want to do solar, do it where it is suitable like on rooftops.”

The campaign has raised specific concerns about the loss of irreplaceable Grade 1 and 2 agricultural land, the presence of protected species including Schedule 1 barn owls and Red List skylarks confirmed by independent survey, and Shropshire Council's decision that no Environmental Impact Assessment is required  a decision the campaign believes is directly contradicted by the council's own screening documents.

The campaign is also challenging what it describes as a county-wide pattern of solar development with no strategic oversight. Across Shropshire, developers have proposed, consented or built solar farms covering an estimated 1,800 acres of countryside, with no county-wide assessment of the cumulative impact on landscape, food production or wildlife.

The campaign has collected over 600 protest signs and is gathering signatures on a formal planning petition in addition to a Change.org petition.

Tom Middleton, spokesperson for Keep Shropshire Beautiful, said: “It was wonderful to see the local community come together alongside cross-party councillors and our MP. We are all for renewable energy, but it belongs on rooftops, car parks and brownfield land, not on some of the finest farmland in England”

The campaign can be followed and supported here at keepshropshirebeautiful.co.uk or facebook @keepshropshirebeautiful