Solar Farms

Part of Backbench Business – in the House of Commons at 3:26 pm on 15 May 2025.

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Photo of Dr Caroline Johnson Dr Caroline Johnson Shadow Minister (Health and Social Care) 3:26, 15 May 2025

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I hope the Minister has listened carefully to what has been said, and has understood that this is not about nimbys—it is not about “not in my back yard” and it is not even about the aesthetics of solar farms. It is about the overwhelming scale of the proposals and the fact that solar farms will take up a huge amount of good-quality farmland. If one had a sensible strategy and wanted to use ground-mounted solar, one would put it in places where there is not good food-producing land; one would not put it on the best food-producing land, but that is what this Government are seeking to do.

Question put and agreed to.

Resolved,

That this House
has considered solar farms.

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