CPRE Bedfordshire Voices Objections at East Park Solar Hearing

CPRE Bedfordshire has presented objections to this massive solar farm at the Rights of Way hearing by the Planning Inspectorate. 

CPRE Bedfordshire is urging the Planning Inspectorate to reject plans for a mega solar farm which would ruin our North Bedfordshire countryside.  

Despite our stance as a strong advocate for the generation of electricity through Solar PV systems, CPRE Bedfordshire is supporting the campaign to Stop East Park Energy.

The mega solar farm proposed for North Bedfordshire will cause huge environmental harm to local villages and the surrounding countryside. CPRE Bedfordshire is concerned that not enough local people are aware of the significant consequences should it be successful. 

East Park Energy is a massive scale development with the capacity to generate 400 MW of solar power, stretching over a swathe of farmland of more than 15 miles across, on the Bedfordshire / Cambridgeshire border. The Stop East Park Energy campaign is being led by residents and Parish Councils.

The Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project is currently being decided by The Planning Inspectorate rather than Local Planning Authorities.

The size of 1,000 football pitches  

The East Park Energy solar farm and battery energy storage system is proposed by Brockwell Storage and Solar.

If it goes ahead, it will be constructed across an enormous 6-mile corridor stretching from the village of Great Staughton, on the Bedfordshire/Cambridgeshire border, right over to west of the villages of Pertenhall and Keysoe. 

The 700,000 solar installations will cover approximately 1,900 acres – the size of 1,000 football pitches. 

Local Action Groups have calculated that this is an area larger than Gatwick Airport! This excludes the infrastructure that goes with construction and access

Transforming the North Bedfordshire countryside

The construction and use of this solar farm will have a huge impact in North Bedfordshire.

Rural communities and farms near small villages like Little Staughton, Keysoe and Pertenhall will be almost encircled by fields of 1,000’s of solar panels. This will completely transform the sense of place and open countryside. We will see the industrialisation of quiet rural communities whether we live in the area or just pass through.

Public footpaths and Rights of Way will become hedge lined alleyways through huge fields of overpowering solar panels. Rural landscape views will be obstructed and obscured.

At the recent public hearing on Rights of Way, Gerry Sansom, representing CPRE Bedfordshire stated that,

“The suggestion by the developer that a mega solar farm on this scale can be constructed in a way that protects landscape character through careful siting and screening with shrubs and trees completely lacks credibility.”

He went on to say,

“CPRE Bedfordshire is a strong advocate for the generation of electricity, however, we wish to ensure that wherever possible Solar PV generating systems are located in the most appropriate locations, ensuring that environmental damage is kept to a minimum. We support and encourage large scale solar installations on the roofs of industrial and commercial buildings, e.g. offices, factories, retail complexes, and warehouses.”

Loss of the best agricultural land

The proposed solar farm will be built on Grade 2 Agricultural Land – identified by the Government as some of the best agricultural land in the country. This, at a time of climate change with warnings about food security and the UK’s reliance on food imports regularly in the news.

CPRE Bedfordshire supports solar farms on “Brownfield” (previously used) land or the poorest agricultural land. We have supported large scale solar farms in various parts of Bedfordshire which comply with this policy.

Why here, why now?

This area of the county is within the government’s Oxford Cambridge Arc, an initiative to create a science and technology growth corridor. Solar energy generation aims is to contribute towards the government’s target of reducing dependence of fossil fuels and reducing carbon emissions. CPRE Bedfordshire is sceptical that the ordinary consumer will see the benefit of this project. However, it will provide low-cost electricity for some of the most profitable companies to service their needs for huge environmentally unsustainable AI data storage facilities which consume enormous amounts of electricity and water.

CPRE Bedfordshire is urging the Planning Inspectorate to reject this application which would ruin our North Bedfordshire countryside and divide communities.

Find out more and have your say

You can read our comments and objection submitted to the Planning Inspectorate:

Comments for East Park Energy Registration Request Jan 2026

CPRE Bedfordshire supports the Stop East Park local action group. More information on its campaigning and progress with the application can be found on its website:

Stop East Park Energy website

The website includes a link to the government site to submit objections is 10th July.

Read more about CPRE Bedfordshire’s position on solar energy:

Solar power in Bedfordshire