After the Cop26 climate summit hype, councillors gave the green light to plans to construct a controversial solar farm in the same area that Thomas Hardy wrote about.
Proposals for the industrial-scale farm in near Sherborne in Dorset were slammed by planning experts, conservationists, architects and hundreds of residents who said they will ‘decimate’ 189 acres of land.
Historic England, Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), and officials of the local planning authority all agreed that it would be unacceptable to rural land.
After they refused to accept the advice of their experts and instead backed it, objectors accuse councillors.
Ray Hartley from the CPRE said he was ‘astonished’ by the decision.
Cop26’s pressure led to him saying that the only reason for the change in his vote was because of the environmental damage it would do to the land.
It is located in the Blackmore Vale. Thomas Hardy (1803-1897) referred the land as the Vale of the Little Dairies’.
The area was chosen by him to be the setting for his 1891 novel Tess of the D’Urbervilles.
After the Cop26 climate summit hype, councilors gave the green light to plans to construct a controversial solar farm in the same area that Thomas Hardy wrote about.
On 24 acres of Longburton farm land, approximately 150,000 solar panels are being built.
The panels are equivalent to 140 football pitches in size and will provide power for more than 10,000 homes over the next 35-years.
Hartley explained that the government stressed that measures such as solar farms should be balanced with potential damage to the countryside. This is especially true for potential sites which could encroach on the natural beauty of the surroundings.
They could not have chosen a better spot to place a marker on the landscape. It is an amazing decision.
Hardy used the Vale of the Little Dairies to express his feelings in his writings and made it the setting for his 1891 novel Tess of the D’Urbervilles.
It was unable to win. Cop26 must have been the one to blame for this swing.
Tony Fincham was vice president of the Hardy Society.
“The Blackmore Vale should not be destroyed like this.
“The Hardy Society is deeply disturbed by these. It is both a shameful and alarming act. They are going against the advice of their officer.
Belinda Wingfield Digby was a local aristocrat who added that this is a very romantic valley, as reflected by Thomas Hardy, one of England’s greatest writers. Hardy made several works out of the landscape: Far from the Madding Crowd and Tess of the D’Urbevilles.
“It’s these paths up and down the valley where his characters tread.
Voltalia UK (renewable energy giant) submitted the application for planning to Dorset Council. In 2019, it declared a “climate emergency” and committed to taking action on climate change.
The project attracted 369 objections from the public, three parish councils and Historic England.
Hartley stated that the planning officer had recommended against the application. There were 369 objections, and the senior landscape architect of the council said the proposal would have an important impact on the environment.
Some objectors of the solar farms point out that Hardy was an eco-warrior in his day. However, they claim that he wouldn’t have supported the desecration of Wessex.
The scheme was approved by the strategic planning committee of Dorset Council.
“The Senior Conservation Officer stated it would cause significant harm, and could not support it. Historic England was concerned about the historical settings.
The Blackmore Vale is an iconic landscape. It can be seen from far away – important footpaths lead to it.
Hartley stated that the farm will eventually reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 11.600 tonnes per year. This is equivalent to about 15 minutes of China’s production of Co2.
The scheme was approved by the strategic planning committee of Dorset Council, with a vote of 6-2
Similar to last year’s proposals, the plans are for a site located just three-miles away
David Tooke (Liberal Democrat Councillor) supported the plan.
Robin Cook was the chair of the committee and said he would not have voted for the plans if they had come up for casting votes. Robin Cook, the chairman of the committee said that he would have voted against it if there had been a casting vote.
In nearly every one of his novels, Thomas Hardy’s affection for Dorset is reflected.
Thomas Hardy, a Dorset native in 1840 would grow up to be one of the greatest novelists and poets in English literary history.
Hardy, who lived most of his adult life in Dorset, died there in 1928 at the age of 87.
Dorset supplied material that allowed him to create fiction and poetry.
Hardy used the term “Vale of the Little Dairies”, to refer to Dorset’s Blackmore Vale in his writings.
Born in Dorset in 1840, Thomas Hardy would go on to become one of the most renowned poets and novelists in English literary history
The area was chosen by him to be the setting for his novel Tess of the D’Urbervilles published in 1891
All of his major novels were set in England’s south, in an area called ‘Wessex’ – named after the Anglo-Saxon kingdom.
Initially, the area was based in Dorset, but it soon expanded to encompass all of Wiltshire, Somerset and Devon as well as Wiltshire, Somerset and Devon.
Hardy’s Wessex included the fictional area of Egdon Heath. This was featured in The Return of the Native (1878), and The Mayor of Casterbridge (1986).