Yes to green energy

NO to the industrialisation of our countryside

“We are all in favour of green energy. However, what is being proposed by these 'green energy' companies is the mass destruction of farmland for minor, inefficient, energy gains motivated by quick profits for multinationals and wealthy individuals. It is opportunism, not sustainability.”

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Claydons Solar Action Group

Yes to green energy

NO to the industrialisation of our countryside

PLEASE DONATE

Claydons Solar Action Group

IMPORTANT COMMUNITY MEETING - HAVE YOUR SAY
Join us on Thursday 20th November at 7:30pm, East & Botolph Claydon Village Hall
Come and find out exactly what’s being proposed by Rosefield and what it could mean for our community. This is your chance to understand the next stage of the planning process and make sure your voice is heard.
Don’t miss this meeting - what’s decided next will affect all of us.

Fighting the cumulative impact in the Claydons

Since Rosefield Solar Farm announced its proposal in September 2023, there has been a growing wave of energy infrastructure developments targeting the Claydons — projects that we, as a community, must challenge in the strongest possible terms before our area turns in to one large powerstation. We are now confronted with an additional THREE battery energy storage sites and the doubling in size of East Claydon National Grid Substation. None of these developments belong in this beautiful part of north Buckinghamshire, none will benefit our community, and all will lead to the loss of over 3,000 acres of important agricultural land.

It is, therefore, imperative that we seize every opportunity to oppose these projects. The impacts of construction alone, as seen with the HS2 and East West Rail nearby, have been devastating — from damaged roads to reckless lorry drivers and intolerable light and noise pollution. Now, we are facing the prospect of multiple construction projects occurring simultaneously in the same area, with no apparent coordination between them.

We must prevent these large corporations from believing they can trample over our rural community.

Click to enlarge map

Rosefield Solar Farm proposal

2,471 acres (1,000 hectares).
471,000 solar panels (500 Mw).
Battery storage (500 Mw BESS) inverters - 296 shipping containers in the Botolph area alone. More will be added.
Substation - 60,000sq m, which will be 15m high.
A collector compound with transformers and cables, with the boundary being up to 6m high.
2.5m high security fencing with CCTV and security lighting at 3.5m high (double decker bus is 4.5m high!).
Approximately 2.5 years of construction, including hundreds of HGV movements per day.
A new hedgerow is proposed along the length of Brentwood Jubilee Way to screen views!
Project cost: circa £760m

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Live Generation, Demand & Emissions

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Track generation, demand, and carbon intensity across the GB grid in real time. Explore the full generation mix or focus on specific categories such as renewables, fossil fuels, low-carbon, or other sources. Compare generation and demand trends alongside carbon emissions through interactive charts to better understand the current state of Great Britain’s electricity system.

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I stand alongside local residents in opposing the 2,000-acre Rosefield Solar proposal in the Claydons. It is totally wrong to take this volume of land from food production, displacing tenant farmers who have farmed this land for generations and devastating our beautiful Buckinghamshire countryside that powers the tourism economy. It’s also totally confused science as 2,000 acres of solar will only power around 50,000 homes on current usage. But just two football pitches are required using small modular reactors that would power 1 million homes - there is just no case for ground-based solar. Large-scale energy infrastructure has no place in the countryside. This is the message that I am taking to National Grid, which plans to more than double the size of its existing substation, despite the highly speculative nature of Rosefield and BESS sites. I will never give up the fight against unwanted and unneeded energy infrastructure.