INFORMATION BOARD

To connect Monksfield Solar Farm to the grid, a cable needs to be laid along the A449 between Bastonford and Malvern Link. RWE have said this will take 7 months. Aside from the inconvenience to commuters and people going about their daily business, what about delays caused to ambulances, fire appliances and police cars?

Pile Driving

Solar panels require pile driving and at other sites we have visited, this took place from 0700 – 1900 every day, for two years. Click the image to see what it sounds like from 300 metres away. Now imagine this whilst sitting in your garden or trying to work from home.

Landscape

Rolling British countryside visible in the setting of the Malvern Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty will be covered in solar panels. Join Malvern Hills Trust and the Malvern Hills National Landscape (MHNL) in objecting to this proposal. Click the image to find out more about the planning policies that Monkshill Solar Farm would contravene.

Fire Risk

As the number of solar farms in the UK increases, so it seems does the number of fires. Thermal runaway can lead to toxic vapour clouds with corresponding damage to public health and the environment.

RWE’s own method for calculating risk reveals a significant chance that this could happen at Monksfield Solar Farm.

Click the image to read more…

Heritage setting spoiled

The former administration block of Powick Hospital is a Grade II listed building. Houses adjacent to it have restrictive covenants preventing out of character development. Why would these not apply to the Monskfield Solar complex?

A Planning Officer's Opinion

A Malvern Hills District Council Planning Officer said in their report for a planning application for access tracks on the land to be used for the Monksfield Solar complex:

“Having walked the routes of the proposed tracks, I would suggest that their creation would be visually intrusive and detract from the farmed landscape. I would suggest that the tracks would give the landscape somewhat of an industrial feel i.e. overdeveloped.”

This is planning application did not include any solar panels but the tracks closely follow the access routes for the proposed Monksfield Solar Farm.