The solar park proposals here in South West England get ever more extravagant.  The Western Morning News reports today that:

Worried homeowners have vowed to fight proposals for the country's biggest solar farm which would cover 224 acres of Cornish farmland.

More on Proposed 91 Hectare Solar Park at Week St Mary, Holsworthy

I attended the Teignbridge District Council planning committee meeting at Forde House in Newton Abbot earlier today. I was there objecting to the proposed Tedburn St. Mary solar PV farm, and the members ultimately voted to refuse the application with a ratio of 3:1. Over coffee after the vote my local district councillor pointed out to me that a request for a screening opinion had been received for a 23.3 hectare solar PV park near Starcross.

More on Proposed 23.3 Hectare Solar Park at Cofford Farm, Starcross

The 7th Annual British Renewable Energy Awards took place at the end of last month. It has just been announced that the the Eden Project's "SolarFair" solar power scheme achieved the "runner-up" position in the "Flagship Project Award" category.

More on The Award Winning Eden Project Solar PV "Staff Share" Scheme

Councillors on the Teignbridge District planning committee have recently received the agenda of a meeting to be held on July 9th. The agenda points out that the the meeting is open to the public, and the "public access statement" therein states that:

More on Tedburn St Mary Council Opposes Goldscross Hill Solar Farm

The Farmer's Guardian reports this morning that:

The 8MW project will provide the South West of England based farm with a guaranteed rental income over the next 25 years, and enough electricity to power 2,500 homes. The 27,924 PV panels will be installed over five interconnected fields on a site comprising 15.4 hectares, [at  Marley Thatch Farm] near South Brent in Devon.

The report makes it clear that in this day and age the financial incentive for this (and other large scale solar PV farms in the area) is no longer the Feed-in Tariffs (FiTs for short):

More on South Hams DC Approves 8 MW Solar Park at Marley Thatch Farm near South Brent

Hot from the editing suite at The Hub, here's the promotional video the EcoIsland team were displaying on the big screens at the Isle of Wight festival at the weekend:

IOW Festival 2012 Video from David Green on Vimeo.

More on Bob Geldof with EcoIsland at the Isle of Wight Festival

Friday 22nd June 2012

To:

Jeremy Ebdon – Teignbridge DC Planning Department
Brendan Clarke – Lightsource Renewable Energy

Dear Sirs,

My continued requests for information from the Teignbridge District Council planning department have so far elicited no response from the officer dealing with the Bowhay Farm Solar PV project. As I am sure you must be aware, time is of the essence in these matters. I would be extremely grateful if somebody could get back to me as soon as possible to answer a few queries I have after reading all the documentation available online concerning the SO application.

More on An Open Request for Planning Advice

I've recently returned from Shillingford St. George, where I sat at the front of the packed village hall whilst Penny and Brendan from Lightsource explained the virtues of generating 12.3 MW of renewable energy on grade 2 agricultural land just north of Dunchideock.  I did enquire if it would be OK for me to record the proceedings on my trusty Sony Handycam, or even just a still camera. Lightsource informed me that they weren't "comfortable" with that idea. The lady sat next to me informed me that she thought "that's a pity".  That is indeed a pity, because it means a more "in depth" report will have to wait for another day,  always assuming that I can successfully decipher my hastily scribbled notes.

More on A Brief View of the Bowhay Farm Solar PV Public Information Evening

According to the BBC:

Plans to build a solar farm near Exeter have been opposed by some residents.

Regular readers please note that the residents in this case live west of Exeter near Tedburn St. Mary, not south of Exeter between Ide and Dunchideock. According to the BBC once more, this solar park has been proposed by Inazin Solar, and they say that:

More on Residents Oppose Tedburn St Mary Solar Farm

I've no idea as yet who put it there, but yesterday I discovered this leaflet in my porch:

Notice of proposed 54 acre 12.3 MW solar farm near Shillingford Abbot

More on Lightsource Planning 54 Acre Solar Farm in My Back Yard