Light Valley Solar campaigners raise concerns over impact of lobbying on decision making

Campaigners fighting plans for a huge solar scheme in the North Yorkshire countryside have raised concerns about the relationship between green energy developers and the government.

Members of the Rooftops Not Countryside group, which is fighting plans for the 500MW Light Valley Solar Scheme near Selby, say they have “serious concerns” over how the scheme became aligned with national energy policy.

Documents obtained using Freedom of Information powers show that senior government officials from the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) held high-level talks with bosses from the Macquarie Group, which, through its subsidiary Island Green Power, is behind the Light Valley scheme, as well as several other large solar developments proposed around the country.

During the exchanges last year, Macquarie raised concerns about the impact on its projects yet to receive planning consent of the government’s targets for solar schemes.

Months later, Energy Minister, Michael Shanks MP, told the National Energy System Operator (NESO), which plans and manages the UK’s electricity supply, that he was making changes to the targets.

The campaign group claims that under the old targets, the Light Valley scheme, and other Island Green Power projects around the country, were not needed to achieve the government’s green energy goals.

But by changing the targets, the group says the government ensured the project was “aligned” with national policy.

Campaigner Louise Billingham spoke out about the group’s concerns at last month’s Planning Inspectorate hearing for Light Valley.

She said: “We believe this raises serious questions about whether the case for national need, underpinning this application, reflects independent, objective assessment by NESO, or whether it has been shaped by direct lobbying from the very developer seeking consent.”

The campaigner added: “The whole argument for this project is that it is needed.

“We absolutely agree that we need better ways of generating energy that reduce our impact on the world and provide better security for future generations.

“However, with its current scale and design, it is not what this project does.

“The fact that the targets have been changed to justify its existence, and other Macquarie projects, is very concerning, and undermines the genuine concerns around climate change.

“We recognise the importance of renewable energy and energy security. However, the answer cannot be to industrialise vast areas of productive countryside and green space, while placing disproportionate impacts on a relatively small number of rural communities.”

Rooftops Not Countryside is working with Stop Oversized Solar, a coalition of community groups collaborating against large solar schemes.

Emails between government officials and Macquarie were obtained by Annetta Berry from the campaign group Block East Pye Solar, which is fighting a large solar scheme in Norfolk.

In response to the criticism, a DESNZ spokesperson said: “Solar is also one of the cheapest and quickest forms of energy to build, helping get bills down for good.

“All projects are subject to a rigorous planning process and the views of the local community must be considered.”

Macquarie declined to comment on the issue, while a NESO spokesperson said: “NESO rejects any suggestion that its independent analysis or advice has been influenced by any individual developer. We engage regularly with stakeholders across the energy sector, but that engagement does not unduly influence NESO’s objective advice or assessments”.

Island Green Power UK Ltd is seeking a development consent order for a network of seven solar farms on 1,020 hectares of land between York and Selby.

A 500MW battery energy storage system (BESS) is proposed as part of the development.