Derril Water

Aerial view of a large solar installation on Devon farmland (image by Devon CPRE)

Why is government guidance not to develop solar on quality farmland being routinely ignored?

The Devon branch of the countryside charity CPRE is issuing a defiant call to arms - highlighting the blatant inconsistencies in the Planning system that are allowing solar development on thousands of acres of Best and Most Versatile (BMV) land that the Government says should be protected and prioritised for food production.

The small independent charity is ramping up its campaign to...

Two of the many Pyworthy residents fighting yet another solar farm (Photo: Devon CPRE)

Devon CPRE launches Crowdfunder campaign to fight the solar farm giants wrecking Devon’s world-beating farmland

In a call to arms on behalf of the environment, a small, independent Devon-based charity is taking on the might of international solar farm developers - by legally challenging Torridge District Council’s decision to allow an industrial-scale solar array to be built on 28 fields at Pyworthy in northwest Devon. Devon CPRE is fighting its biggest battle yet to save prime farmland that’s vital for...

A bank of solar panels against the sky

An industrialised solar farm landscape looms near Holsworthy in northwest Devon

Proposals for the latest and largest solar farm in Devon, adjacent to an existing one, would transform the pastoral scenery between Holsworthy and Bude into an ugly landscape of solar panels and security fencing stretching across 28 fields.

The Devon branch of the countryside charity CPRE says the rural vistas people have come to cherish more than ever during the pandemic will be...