A fresh consultation has been launched into proposals for what, if approved, would be one of the UK’s largest solar energy schemes.
Energy developer Island Green Power wants to build the 500MW Light Valley Solar project, consisting of seven solar farms on a 2,520 acre (1,020 hectare) site, between York and Selby.
Annette Lardeur, senior project development manager, said this third consultation concerned changes to the plans which were “minor in nature” and would “improve safety and access”.
However, Louise Billingham, from campaign group Rooftops Not Countryside, said its members remained opposed to the plans due to the site’s “vast scale and inappropriate placement”.
Further land on the development would be used for underground cabling to connect the sites to the national grid at Monk Fryston substation, meanwhile a 500MW battery energy storage system (BESS) was also proposed.
Due to the size of the proposed development, which would be located between the villages of Escrick, Monk Fryston, Hambleton, Chapel Haddlesey and South Milford, the Light Valley Solar scheme has been declared a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project.
That means planning permission will be decided by the national Planning Inspectorate, rather than North Yorkshire Council.
According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Ms Lardeur said she wanted to “encourage people to share their views” as part of the new consultation.
“The changes we are consulting on are minor in nature and have been introduced to improve safety and access if the scheme is consented,” she explained.
“As well as this, they aim to reduce the amount of construction traffic passing through villages. I encourage people to share their views.”
Ms Billingham said the campaign group, which had collected nearly 3,000 signatures against the plans, said if the solar farm went ahead, “our countryside will no longer be countryside, it will be a vast industrial estate”.
“This impromptu round of consultation is for Light Valley Solar to make changes that will remove established hedgerows, trees and nature and also build lay-bys and roads,” she said.
“They plan to build one million 4m high solar panels, numerous substations and BESS sites, as well as cable corridors, high-security fencing and CCTV across 13 miles of countryside between Monk Fryston and Escrick.”
The group had so far raised at least £2,000 through crowdfunding for the campaign against the plans, which would pay for banners and leaflets to raise awareness of the proposed solar farm, Ms Billingham added.
If approved, Light Valley would be bigger than what is currently the largest operational solar scheme, at Cleave Hill in Kent.
The scheme would provide enough power for 115,000 homes a year, according to Island Green Power.
