Labour reneges on Tory promise not to build solar farms on farmland

The current regulations state: “When deciding which sites are most suitable for development, the availability of agricultural land used for food production should be taken into account.”

The wording of the legislation was introduced by Rishi Sunak’s government in December last year to stem the wave of solar farms popping up on prime agricultural land.

A new draft of the National Planning Policy Framework, published by Ms Rayner’s department, shows that the sentence has been deleted.

Claire Coutinho, shadow energy minister, said: “Our good farmland should be used to produce food, not build huge solar farms.

“That’s why I’ve made changes to protect our best farmland in the government and made it easier to install solar panels on roofs.

“Yet Ed Miliband, in his first few weeks in office, signed off on the installation of solar panels on thousands of acres of farmland to help meet costly climate targets.

“We cannot put our food security at risk or increase our energy bills in the name of Labour’s climate policies.”

Impact on food production

The decision comes after Mr Miliband overturned a decision by planning inspectors who had granted permission for a solar farm and energy storage infrastructure to be built on 2,792 acres of prime farmland in Suffolk and Cambridgeshire.

The decision came despite planning inspectors urging him to reject the project, citing its impact on food production.

In their report, officials explicitly cited Mr Sunak’s rule changes as one of the main reasons for their opposition.

In response, Mr Miliband said he believed the need to produce more green energy “outweighs the virtually permanent loss of food production”.

It also approved two other sites, both in Lincolnshire, each measuring around 2,000 acres, but these were opposed by local residents and councillors.

The proposed changes to planning laws have been put out to consultation and Ms Rayner is expected to make a final decision on the matter in the autumn.

If, as expected, it moves to lift safeguards on agricultural land, it will become easier to approve solar farms in the future.

Planning will continue to require that “areas of poorer land quality are preferred to better land quality” where possible.