Sign our letter: clean energy shouldn't cost the countryside, it’s time for a moratorium on mega solar

Sign our letter: clean energy shouldn't cost the countryside, it’s time for a moratorium on mega solar

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Dear Secretary of State,

Climate change is here, and it’s one of the greatest threats to our countryside, including farmland and food security, landscapes and nature. As global leaders gather for crucial climate talks at COP31, it's clear we need to move away from fossil fuels. And we want to help you get there. 

We welcome your decision to refuse Botley West Solar Farm. In doing so you protected the Green Belt, some of our best farmland and the setting of the Blenheim Palace World Heritage Site. The decision reflected not just the evidence set out by the Planning Inspectorate, but the voices of local people.  

Needlessly sacrificing the countryside — which grows our food and could support large-scale nature recovery and climate mitigation — doesn't make sense when there are clear alternatives. 

But Botley West also shows what happens when there isn't a plan. Years of uncertainty for local people, farmers and the developer alike. More than 1,100 formal representations, months of examinations and two delayed deadlines. Time, money and resources spent on a scheme that in the end, was in the wrong place. No-one wins from that, least of all the climate.  

That’s why this is the moment for a plan. The Strategic Spatial Energy Plan (SSEP), due by the end of 2027, will set the long-term direction for our energy system — and the options for it are on your desk right now. Done well, it can help the right projects move faster, give communities more certainty, and make the best use of our finite land. That includes the huge potential of rooftop solar, which has widespread public support — not to mention community energy schemes – which remain largely untapped.

We're asking you to pause new approvals of large-scale solar farms (over 30MW) until that plan is place and make it a plan that puts rooftops first and protects more countryside.  

We know we need to act quickly on climate change, and the best way to get there is together, with energy projects that communities can get behind. A countryside-friendly SSEP makes that possible. 

As your decision to refuse Botley West shows, clean energy and a beautiful, resilient countryside shouldn't be a trade-off. We want a moratorium in place until we have a plan that puts that into practice.  

 
Help us send a strong message to Miatta Fahnbulleh, the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero. 

I support the call for a moratorium on large-scale solar until we have a real plan to guide it. In the meantime, the government should harness rooftop solar to deliver solar energy at scale in a way that protects the countryside.

Help us send a strong message to Miatta Fahnbulleh, the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero. 

I support the call for a moratorium on large-scale solar until we have a real plan to guide it. In the meantime, the government should harness rooftop solar to deliver solar energy at scale in a way that protects the countryside.

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Dear Secretary of State,

Climate change is here, and it’s one of the greatest threats to our countryside, including farmland and food security, landscapes and nature. As global leaders gather for crucial climate talks at COP31, it's clear we need to move away from fossil fuels. And we want to help you get there. 

We welcome your decision to refuse Botley West Solar Farm. In doing so you protected the Green Belt, some of our best farmland and the setting of the Blenheim Palace World Heritage Site. The decision reflected not just the evidence set out by the Planning Inspectorate, but the voices of local people.  

Needlessly sacrificing the countryside — which grows our food and could support large-scale nature recovery and climate mitigation — doesn't make sense when there are clear alternatives. 

But Botley West also shows what happens when there isn't a plan. Years of uncertainty for local people, farmers and the developer alike. More than 1,100 formal representations, months of examinations and two delayed deadlines. Time, money and resources spent on a scheme that in the end, was in the wrong place. No-one wins from that, least of all the climate.  

That’s why this is the moment for a plan. The Strategic Spatial Energy Plan (SSEP), due by the end of 2027, will set the long-term direction for our energy system — and the options for it are on your desk right now. Done well, it can help the right projects move faster, give communities more certainty, and make the best use of our finite land. That includes the huge potential of rooftop solar, which has widespread public support — not to mention community energy schemes – which remain largely untapped.

We're asking you to pause new approvals of large-scale solar farms (over 30MW) until that plan is place and make it a plan that puts rooftops first and protects more countryside.  

We know we need to act quickly on climate change, and the best way to get there is together, with energy projects that communities can get behind. A countryside-friendly SSEP makes that possible. 

As your decision to refuse Botley West shows, clean energy and a beautiful, resilient countryside shouldn't be a trade-off. We want a moratorium in place until we have a plan that puts that into practice.