Solar farm planned for land near Sleaford

Plans for a solar farm in Lincolnshire which would power up to 62,000 homes have been announced.

The Windsock Solar Farm would be built on 640 acres of fields north of Cranwell, near Sleaford, which the landowners say is extremely difficult to farm.

The plans are likely to be submitted in late 2027. If permission is granted, the farm could be connected to the grid by 2035, remaining in operation for 40 years before being decommissioned.

However, Sleaford MP Caroline Johnson said the scale of solar farms in the area "goes beyond the reasonable amount local people should be expected to bear".

The application is being drawn up by BLC Energy for land owned by farmers GR Ward & Co.

Joe Ward said: "The land we have set aside for solar panels is our least moisture-retentive. We can't profitably grow wheat on it, and for the past two years we've lost money on the crops we grew there.

"Given this year's weather, we expect to lose money again.

"We had been irrigating some of the land with a local water source, but last year we lost the rights to it. Without that water, the land can no longer be irrigated, restricting the crops we can grow."

But Johnson said: "With the addition of this application, the proposed land take for solar farms in our constituency is now around 10,000 acres (equivalent to 5,500 football pitches).

"These applications go beyond the reasonable amount local people in our area should be expected to bear."

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, local consultation will take place in the autumn.

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