Ed Miliband's decision to approve the Mallard Pass Solar Plant for construction showed a complete disregard for community consent, contempt for human rights, and a complete failure to understand food security is a national security issues.
In waving through three of these mass mega-solar projects at the same time, he gave a green light to every company complicit in Uyghur genocide seeking to make a profit off our agricultural land. 6,295 acres of agricultural land will be lost.
With 93 documents in the decision subfolder for Mallard Pass alone, let alone the other two projects, I struggle to believe the Secretary of State engaged with the detail or read all of the documentation and representations. It is also not in line with the Written Statement I secured from the last Government which put food security first.
I am sorry to all those who campaigned so hard, for so long, and whose voices were flagrantly dismissed. In particular, Mallard Pass Action Group's campaigning against Mallard Pass and their support for residents over the past few years has been outstanding and it has been a pleasure to work with Sue and all the MPAG team. They have just been incredible, and their attention to detail and work has been truly outstanding with their love of our community shining through at every moment.
I am not done however fighting against solar on agricultural land, fighting against slave labour in supply chains, and fighting for a compensation package that gives our communities what we deserve.
Our Parish Councils are currently working to reach a compensation agreement with the company that acquired the project for £240m, but have no support from the Government which has failed to introduce the mandated minimum compensation levels promised. That means this behemoth organisation is exploiting the current gap in legislation to offer unacceptably low levels of compensation to our communities. I have raised my concerns with the Government as it is vital this is resolved as soon as possible, to ensure those most affected by large scale solar development are compensated fairly.
