Proposals for a renewable energy park on current agricultural land to the south west of Ruddington seem to have received a mostly favourable reaction from villagers so far.
Further details about this planned green power project were revealed today (Tuesday 22nd March) by Ridge Clean Energy during the first of its two public exhibitions being held in St Peter’s Rooms. The solar farm would be built on 99 hectares of arable land belonging to Ruddington Fields Farm and involve installing solar PV, batteries, access tracks and associated infrastructure.
Display boards explain everything from the exact location and construction of the 49.9MW of solar panels and 49.9MW of battery storage to how the scheme would actually improve the biodiversity in the area during its 35-40 year lifespan. Also the company says it’s keen to identify Ruddington initiatives for which their expertise and finance may be useful – so it can support existing community projects and help new ones become a reality.
One of the experts on hand to answer questions about Fair Oaks Renewable Energy Park was project manager Jonny Murphy. He told RUDDINGTON.info: “It’s a fantastic opportunity to help generate clean, renewable energy, so helping with the fight against climate change, helping to secure domestic energy supply and energy security in this country, whilst also resulting in a benefit to the community pushing forward local sustainability projects. We’ve had some very useful, engaging conversations from a really well informed community and so far our plans have been positively received.”
Villagers Rich Lovewell and Craig Baum are in favour of the plans: “Not only is it clean local energy – which we clearly need in today’s environment – but it also stops them building houses there!” says Craig. “The one at Cotgrave you can hardly see from the road.”
However, both Jackie Farrington and Kate Parker were concerned that this is all being installed on prime arable land. “We’re not taking all of the arable land in this area” responds Jonny “and, historically in this country, we’ve been over-producing and exporting an awful lot of grain and cereal. Also, it’s a temporary development – so we’ll be helping the landowner diversify his farming practice for the operational period. After this time we will decommission the site and then he would be free to re-cultivate the land for farming purposes.”
But Kate is not convinced that the UK has been over-producing grain and cereal, responding: “Have we? Or is the UK producing a commodity that allows countries the option to buy just a tiny percentage of these staple foods from another place other than Russia, China or Ukraine? And no farmer will knowingly buy into over production of any commodity because they won’t get the best price for their investment.”
Kate, who attended the first exhibition, continues: “The land that is being ear marked for this project is prime arable land. It really is some of the very best. If this project goes ahead does the land then become a brown field site? If it does there is absolutely no guarantee that it will ever return to farm land but may become the area on which ‘New Ruddington’ is built once Ruddington is subsumed into Nottingham. A very nice earner for the landowner (which is their right as the owner of the land) and a well-played long game by all the organisations and people involved who want to see houses and other structures there but which would not happen for a century, at least, without this interim project.” There’s more >>HERE<<.
Meantime, the photographs and diagrams on display suggest the ‘Fair Oaks’ site would have minimal visual impact for Ruddington, although it it is likely to be visible to passengers travelling along the Nottingham Heritage Railway, along its south eastern boundary, and to residents of the new Fairham Pastures housing being built along its north western boundary. However, the company’s proposed environmental benefits include screening it from view with native hedgerow and tree planting to mitigate the impact, whilst delivering a net gain in biodiversity. A species-rich seed mix in between the rows of solar panels to encourage birds, bees and other wildlife is also planned.
Jonny promises that everyone’s comments will be taken onboard when putting together the formal planning application to Rushcliffe Borough Council this summer. He adds: “With the site layout we have at the exhibition today around 11,200 homes annually will be supplied with clean, locally generated electricity. It’s a really good opportunity for Ruddington to show that it is contributing to the fight against climate change as well as helping to push forward its own sustainability agenda through our community enhancement package.” It’s thought this benefits package would be worth something in the region of £25,000 to our village each year (based on the current site layout) once the energy park goes into operation in 2024.
There’ll be a second chance to go along to St Peter’s Rooms this Friday 25th March between 11am and 6.00pm when experts from the company will again be on hand to explain more about their plans, answer questions, and gather public feedback about how and where we would like our local community to benefit. Not only that, free willow trees are again being handed out to visitors who would like one to plant – on a first come, first served basis.
If you can’t make it to the exhibition, you’re being invited instead to visit the dedicated Fair Oaks Renewable Energy Park website for more information – and to complete their ‘Local Community Survey’ >>HERE<<.
