02/11/2026
🔋LABOUR GOVERNMENT APPROVES HUGE SOLAR FARM ON NOTTINGHAMSHIRE FARMLAND – CLLR BARLOW CONDEMNS DECISION AS BETRAYAL OF RURAL COMMUNITIES
Conservative County Councillor Janette Barlow for Collingham Division has condemned the Labour Government’s decision to grant development consent for the Great North Road Solar and Biodiversity Park, an 800MW scheme covering approximately 1,765 hectares (4,360 acres) of countryside north-west of Newark.
The decision, announced by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero on 27 October 2026, was made under the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project regime. Proposed by Elements Green Trent Limited, the scheme includes around 1,025 hectares of solar panels, battery storage and associated grid infrastructure. The developers claim it could generate enough electricity to power around 400,000 homes.
The development will form a series of solar sites stretching approximately 6.2 miles from north to south, surrounding villages including Caunton, Ossington, Bathley and Norwell, with its eastern edge alongside the A1.
The approval follows the Labour Government’s decision in July 2026 to grant consent for the One Earth Solar Farm, covering approximately 3,900 acres (1,619 hectares) near North Clifton on the Nottinghamshire-Lincolnshire border. That decision was taken despite the Examining Authority recommending refusal, citing concerns including landscape impact, the historic environment and flood risk.
Together, the two schemes represent a substantial loss of agricultural land and a growing industrial footprint across rural Nottinghamshire.
Cllr Barlow, who has consistently opposed industrial-scale solar developments on greenfield sites and productive farmland, said: “This is a devastating blow for local residents and Nottinghamshire’s countryside. Productive farmland and our open spaces are being sacrificed to meet national energy targets imposed from Westminster, while local concerns about flooding, highways, visual impact, biodiversity and the character of our villages risk being pushed aside.
“Under the Conservatives, measures were put in place to ensure Nottinghamshire County Council, as a statutory consultee, could properly scrutinise these proposals and highlight their real-world consequences. Residents deserve a balanced approach to energy policy, not the wholesale covering of our green fields in glass.”
She continued: “This is not about being against renewable energy. We need clean energy, but it must not come at the expense of our best agricultural land and the communities that live and work here.
“The Grass Not Glass campaign has highlighted the concerns surrounding these developments. Local people have made their views clear through consultations and objections, yet the Labour Government has pressed ahead regardless. Residents are entitled to ask whether their concerns are genuinely being listened to.”
The Conservatives are again pointing to a series of reports which highlight donations to Labour Party linked to the company behind the Great North Road scheme around the time of the 2024 general election. Any suggestion that political donations influenced the planning decision would require clear evidence, but the reported contributions underline the importance of transparency and public confidence in decisions of this scale. They feel residents deserve reassurance that every decision is made on its merits and in the public interest.
Cllr Barlow concluded: “Nottinghamshire’s countryside and productive farmland are not disposable. This decision shows why we need robust scrutiny and politicians who will stand up for rural communities, rather than allow national political priorities to take precedence over the concerns of local people.
“I will continue to fight to protect our countryside, defend our rural communities and hold those in power to account.”
