Communities
Monday 22 March 2021

Plans to build the UK’s biggest solar farm across a swathe of arable land in East Anglia have reignited calls for a national debate on the future of the countryside.
Plans for UK’s largest solar “farm” on “arable” (suitable for farming) land in East Anglia, Sunnica energy farm, has reignited a country wide debate on whether the land should be used to produce Food or Energy. Much of the land is Grade 3 – Good quality Agricultural land.
A farmer who lives nearby said, “The sheer size is community-changing. It will have a massive impact - as an industry we need to ask why this area of quality land should be covered in solar panels?”
“...solar panels were better suited to brownfield sites, buildings and rooftops – not agricultural land, which should be used for food production.”
A professor who is a Fellow of the Royal Agricultural Society, made the comment, “Land is finite, and whatever you use it for there are trade-offs."
“Sometimes these trade-offs are acceptable and sometimes they are not."
“I have a particular concern about food security – the Sunnica proposal is for land that is very productive.”
To read the entire article, click here
A farmer who lives nearby said, “The sheer size is community-changing. It will have a massive impact - as an industry we need to ask why this area of quality land should be covered in solar panels?”
“...solar panels were better suited to brownfield sites, buildings and rooftops – not agricultural land, which should be used for food production.”
A professor who is a Fellow of the Royal Agricultural Society, made the comment, “Land is finite, and whatever you use it for there are trade-offs."
“Sometimes these trade-offs are acceptable and sometimes they are not."
“I have a particular concern about food security – the Sunnica proposal is for land that is very productive.”
To read the entire article, click here
Saturday 20 March 2021

The Town Board and the Planning Board of Moreau, NY,are having trouble coming to an agreement
The Town Board and the Planning Board of Moreau, NY,are having trouble coming to an agreement on the rules they want in place when they get their first application for an array of solar panels.
The Town Board doesn’t like the phrase, “banning solar panels on prime farmland.” They think it is too restrictive.
The Planning Board, on the other hand, doesn’t think it is restrictive enough. They think every acre of farmland is valuable, prime soils or not, and that the comprehensive plan should be amended to emphasize farmland protection.
They will be meeting in the future to discuss these opposing views.
To read the article, click here
The Town Board doesn’t like the phrase, “banning solar panels on prime farmland.” They think it is too restrictive.
The Planning Board, on the other hand, doesn’t think it is restrictive enough. They think every acre of farmland is valuable, prime soils or not, and that the comprehensive plan should be amended to emphasize farmland protection.
They will be meeting in the future to discuss these opposing views.
To read the article, click here
Saturday 10 October 2020

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Saturday 22 August 2020

ACTION REQUESTED for all Pulaski County Indiana residents to prevent THREE proposed solar farms from taking over the county. ONE farm is in excess of 7,000 acres.
The following article was posted on our Facebook Group Page
Written by Dean Cervenka
ACTION REQUESTED for all Pulaski County residents, homeowners, and land owners. Solar developers are locking up farm land throughout the county for solar panel installations.
This is done very discretely and the landowner, once signing up their land for 30 years, is also signing a non-disclosure contract. So you may not have been aware of the scope of the project until recently, like I was.
The developer also can extend the contract for 30 year increments, effectively removing the ground from agricultural production forever and the land owner has little control of the ground. Our farm declined these offers.
However, do not assume the farmland out your window or next to your property will stay the same. If you are contemplating buying a home, farm ground, or land in Pulaski County you should also do the research to make sure you will not be surrounded by solar panels in the next couple years. Declining property values already are a concern just based on the recent knowledge that Pulaski County is being converted to a large solar energy plant. Why invest in Pulaski Counties rural ground, homes, small business and the community when solar panels may change the rural landscape that is so hard to find?
Solar panels, invertors, and substations will be on 4,500 acres if the county BZA approves this first project and there is more farm ground being signed up and rumored to be up to 12,000 acres already.
The developer states the plant will produce and export 500MW (up to 1000MW) of power and of course this energy is not for Pulaski County. Land owners are selling out their ground for leases ranging from $1000-$1500 per acre per year with no regard for the long term effect on their neighbors, community, and their own farm ground. The money driving them is a significant lure.
Ag zoning was in place to protect agricultural ground, however, the county planning board, BZA and commissioners are driving through this exception. The Pulaski County ordinances, as written and reviewed, are not strong enough to protect the community and the land. That is one primary reason why Pulaski County is a prime target for these Solar Energy developers.
Go out and contact all of your surrounding neighbors and county officials, and ask if they have signed up their farmland to these solar plants.
If this concerns you… and it should… then attend the Pulaski County BZA meeting on this Monday, August 24th in the Winamac Highway Garage and ask the BZA to decline this exception to turn over 4,500 acres of tillable ground to an unproven solar developer.
This is in your hometown and backyard and will effect the community for generations by loss of prime farm ground, small business, and agricultural jobs. Get involved now as this may be your last chance!
See research at Pulaski County Against Solar Facebook site.
Written by Dean Cervenka
ACTION REQUESTED for all Pulaski County residents, homeowners, and land owners. Solar developers are locking up farm land throughout the county for solar panel installations.
This is done very discretely and the landowner, once signing up their land for 30 years, is also signing a non-disclosure contract. So you may not have been aware of the scope of the project until recently, like I was.
The developer also can extend the contract for 30 year increments, effectively removing the ground from agricultural production forever and the land owner has little control of the ground. Our farm declined these offers.
However, do not assume the farmland out your window or next to your property will stay the same. If you are contemplating buying a home, farm ground, or land in Pulaski County you should also do the research to make sure you will not be surrounded by solar panels in the next couple years. Declining property values already are a concern just based on the recent knowledge that Pulaski County is being converted to a large solar energy plant. Why invest in Pulaski Counties rural ground, homes, small business and the community when solar panels may change the rural landscape that is so hard to find?
Solar panels, invertors, and substations will be on 4,500 acres if the county BZA approves this first project and there is more farm ground being signed up and rumored to be up to 12,000 acres already.
The developer states the plant will produce and export 500MW (up to 1000MW) of power and of course this energy is not for Pulaski County. Land owners are selling out their ground for leases ranging from $1000-$1500 per acre per year with no regard for the long term effect on their neighbors, community, and their own farm ground. The money driving them is a significant lure.
Ag zoning was in place to protect agricultural ground, however, the county planning board, BZA and commissioners are driving through this exception. The Pulaski County ordinances, as written and reviewed, are not strong enough to protect the community and the land. That is one primary reason why Pulaski County is a prime target for these Solar Energy developers.
Go out and contact all of your surrounding neighbors and county officials, and ask if they have signed up their farmland to these solar plants.
If this concerns you… and it should… then attend the Pulaski County BZA meeting on this Monday, August 24th in the Winamac Highway Garage and ask the BZA to decline this exception to turn over 4,500 acres of tillable ground to an unproven solar developer.
This is in your hometown and backyard and will effect the community for generations by loss of prime farm ground, small business, and agricultural jobs. Get involved now as this may be your last chance!
See research at Pulaski County Against Solar Facebook site.