I have submitted a formal objection to the developers of Whitestone Solar Farm. While I am fully supportive of Britain’s broader ambition to transition toward clean, sustainable, and domestically produced energy, I believe this shift must be pursued in a way that is both responsible and inclusive. It is essential that any such development involves meaningful engagement with local communities and does not come at the expense of our natural environment. In my view,  Whitestone Solar Farm proposal fails to meet these fundamental standards. I remain committed to working closely with local residents, elected councillors, and community organisations to ensure that the voices of those most affected are heard clearly and taken seriously. For those who wish to understand my position in greater detail, my full objection is available below.

 

Dear Mr Thompson

Whitestone 1 Solar Farm

Your pre-application consultation on this massive solar farm between Conisbrough, Firsby and Hooton Roberts closes on 28 October 2025. I am writing to confirm my opposition to your plans.

I summarise my concerns below. If you go ahead with a formal application for this development, I plan to make a detailed submission to the Planning Inspectorate. My objections will not be made alone; many other local voices, organisations, and statutory consultees will be doing the same.

I have long supported the need for Britain to expand renewable energy generation. It is cheap, home-grown, job-creating and essential for cutting our dependence on fossil fuels. And foreign state suppliers. When people elected us to government last year, we made a commitment to Clean Power by 2030.

But, in my view, every project must still meet three tests. It must be proportionate, it must be safe, and it must be fair. Whitestone fails all three.

Proportionate –  This is the wrong scale of scheme in the wrong place. Whitestone would cover almost 2,000 hectares of South Yorkshire countryside, entirely within the Green Belt, disrupting over 60 public rights of way and changing the character of historic villages such as Firsby, Clifton and Hooton Roberts. National policy is clear that large-scale solar must protect openness and landscape value, yet Whitestone’s own assessment admits significant adverse effects that cannot be mitigated.

Safe – The environmental and technical evidence is weak. Your own draft Environmental Statement shows incomplete flood risk and biodiversity assessments. Building energy infrastructure in flood zones and near sensitive habitats is not safe or sustainable. I am also concerned about the impact on road safety. The A630 is already one of the most congested and accident-prone corridors in South Yorkshire, carrying heavy commuter and freight traffic between Doncaster, Conisbrough and Rotherham. Whitestone’s own transport papers record 370 collisions in the past five years, including 18 fatalities, yet still propose routing HGVs and abnormal loads along sections of the A630 and through nearby villages, with no confirmed Construction Traffic Management Plan. The baseline traffic data you have provided is incomplete and too generic to show the real extent of the risk, and there is still no defined access strategy for any of the Whitestone sites.

Fair – This consultation has been flawed. It has not been designed or conducted in a way that reflects the separate areas, communities and circumstances affected. Instead of the three separate schemes are treated as one, with generic and cost-saving materials and has excluded some of the communities most impacted. There has been no dedicated event for Hooton Roberts, limited materials for Firsby, and a prohibitive £750 fee for hard copies of technical documents. That is not a fair or accessible process for local residents. There are also no confirmed community benefit payments or local ownership proposals. All profits from the scheme would go to the developers and investors outside South Yorkshire, with nothing guaranteed for the villages expected to host it.

I will be setting out these objections formally to the Planning Inspectorate should you proceed to an application.