by Trevor Bevins, Local Democracy Reporting Service.
PLANS for a Chickerell solar farm on Dorset Council-owned land has led to a political spat – with a Weymouth Tory claiming the area is becoming a ‘dumping ground’.
In response Weymouth Lib Dem Cabinet member Ryan Hope claimed the positive plans for the area under his party had got the Tories rattled accusing them of achieve nothing positive for the area during their five years in control.
Littlemoor and Preston Conservative Peter Dickenson called on the Lib Dems not to agree the proposed 50MW solar farm at Higher South Buckland Farm, Chickerell but to opt for a wind farm instead.
He told Tuesday evening’s Cabinet meeting that solar farms were “totally inefficient” and questioned the human rights of Chinese workers who will manufacture the panels.
Fellow Littlemoor and Preston councillor Cllr Louie O’Leary told the meeting: “My concern, and I’ve sat on planning for a number of years, is that Chickerell is becoming, on many occasions, a bit of a dumping ground for many large-scale projects: It’s actually a growing residential area, growing, according to many old Chickerellites I speak to, growing far too fast. We’ve got a battery farm that has been agreed by this council, there’s talk of other things, and now a solar farm… I’m just concerned that it’s getting too much for my neighbours on the west side.”
Dorchester councillor Richard Biggs, who heads the council’s property and assets team, said the solar farm, to be developed with a private company partner, would produce “quite substantial” income for the council, subject to gaining planning consent and coming to a legal agreement over the profits from the venture.
He said the land to be used, a county farm, was graded as poor to moderate agricultural land and unsuitable for a starter or progression farm. The existing tenant is said to want to retire.
The Cabinet meeting heard there was nothing to stop grazing under and around the panels once they were in place and there would be more biodiversity with the solar farm than there is now from the farm.
Council leader Nick Ireland said the proposal, one of several possible developments in the south Dorset area, ticked many boxes and utilised a national grid connection at the Chickerell sub-station.
“It shows we are actually doing something… we are different, we are actually making a change . We are actually going to do things rather than talk about it”, he said.
Green Party Cabinet member Clare Sutton, welcomed the solar farm development, saying it would support the council’s climate change targets, unlock investment in the area, create jobs and add to biodiversity on the site.
Cllr O’Leary questioned just how much the solar farm would add to fighting global climate change.
In a question to Cllrs Simon Clifford and Gill Taylor, who both represent Chickerell for the Lib Dems he said:
“Will getting rid of only county farm in the Weymouth area and plastering it over with a metallic solar farm count as keeping ‘Chickerell special’ as set out in their election leaflets. I’m not sure it does.”
Portland Labour councillor Paul Kimber welcomed the solar farm as “really good news” and said he would also welcome an windfarm off the Portland coast, if it could be achieved.
