Campaigners step up effort to fight solar farm near Elstree

Banners are going up around Radlett and Elstree headlined ‘Save Our Green Belt. Stop the Solar Farm’ after official proposals for the solar farm were submitted last month.

The Hilfield Solar Farm scheme would involve solar panels being constructed for a period of 35 years over 20 fields on land that stretches from Elstree Aerodrome, out towards the A41 in Patchett’s Green, and over towards Letchmore Heath and the outskirts of Radlett.

The fields on green belt land which would contain the solar panels cover approximately 130 hectares, with the entire fence line of the site a total of 210 acres – equivalent to the size of 105 football pitches.

left to right: Campaigners Clive Freeman, Shelley Levene, Immanuel Ezekiel and his partner Sharon Woolf. Credit: Lynn Margolis Photography

Sharon Woolf, who lives close to the proposed scheme, is leading a campaign to fight the solar farm and she was joined by fellow campaigners in Radlett last week to put up a banner in the village.

Ms Woolf said: "Because of lockdown, we need to raise awareness of these plans. Lots of people don’t use social media and other places to gather information are currently closed.

"The language in the application is also technical; you’d need to be a specialist to understand the vocabulary so we are trying to get the information we know out there."

Alongside the new banners, Ms Woolf is also leading a social media campaign, and a Facebook group has amassed nearly 500 members.

Sharon Woolf, pictured, is leading a campaign to say 'no' to the solar farm. Credit: Lynn Margolis Photography

Explaining why she opposes the plans for the solar farm, Ms Woolf said: "Our concerns are the size of this scheme and the bulk of it. People are telling me now they didn’t realise the size of it. This would have lasting damage on the landscape.

"We are not anti-green and we support green energy but solar is not the way forward for this country. Boris (Johnson) says offshore wind is the way forward for us.

"We don’t need to destroy the environment to save the environment. Once the land’s gone, it’s gone."

A field within the enclosed site that could be developed

The rough area of where the solar farm is planned. It is the majority of the fields shaded a grey/brown colour. redit: Google

The Elstree & Borehamwood Green Belt Society are also "gravely concerned" about the proposed solar farm.

In a document published on Hertsmere Borough Council’s planning portal, chairman of the society Ann Goddard wrote: "We are fully aware of the urgent need for green energy and the dire consequences for our planet if we do not immediately alter our consumption of fossil fuel.

"Against this is the loss of 300 acres of agricultural land and the ugly scarring of our countryside by the solar panels and the infrastructure associated with them.

"The fact that the panels can be removed after 35 years does not mean that they will be and so the loss might be permanent."

Stock image of a solar farm

The applicants, Elstree Green Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Enso Green Holdings Ltd, says the proposed solar farm and battery storage facility would have the capacity to provide electricity for around 15,600 family homes, although they would not necessarily be in Hertsmere.

In response to concerns raised during public consultation in the autumn, the applicants say some amendments to the scheme have been made, including increasing the distance between some of the solar panels with neighbouring properties.

The applicants say the project also aims to "significantly enhance the biodiversity of the site through the provision of a range of resources for local wildlife".

The planning application can be found here.