Hundreds join protest walk against Doncaster area solar farm

Hundreds of people have taken part in a protest walk against plans to build a huge solar farm near Doncaster.

Campaigners came together at Conisbrough Parks on Saturday for the Community Support Walk organised by Save Our Greenbelt – Conisbrough Parks, demonstrating the continuing strength of local opposition to Green Nation’s proposed Whitestone Solar Farm.

Residents, families and supporters gathered off Park Lane before setting out across the countryside that would be affected by the Whitestone 1 element of the proposed development.

The campaign group described the turnout as a tremendous success and a powerful demonstration of how strongly local people feel about protecting Conisbrough Parks as the Whitestone application moves towards examination by the Planning Inspectorate.

Philip Knight, Secretary of Save Our Greenbelt – Conisbrough Parks, said:“It was fantastic to see hundreds of people come together again.

“Some joined the walk, others came simply to see everyone set off and show their support, but everyone was there because they care about what happens to this countryside.

“Saturday sent a very clear message. Opposition to the industrialisation of Conisbrough Parks has not gone away.

“As we move towards the formal examination, we intend to make sure that strength of feeling is seen and heard.”

The walk took people directly through the landscape at the heart of the campaign and gave participants the opportunity to appreciate its scale and character first-hand.

Save Our Greenbelt – Conisbrough Parks says its concerns about Whitestone extend well beyond the visual impact of solar panels.

They include the industrialisation of Green Belt countryside, loss of productive agricultural land and implications for food security, impacts on landscape and the environment, and significantly the area’s history, heritage and archaeology.

Conisbrough Parks and the surrounding landscape contain evidence of human activity spanning thousands of years, including Bronze Age, Iron Age, Roman and medieval archaeology.

Philip said:“Walking through the Parks reminds you that this isn’t simply an area coloured on a developer’s plan.

“It is productive farmland, countryside enjoyed by generations of local people, wildlife habitat and a historic landscape containing evidence of thousands of years of human activity.

“One of our concerns is that individual archaeological and heritage assets can too easily be considered separately.

“Their collective significance lies partly in their relationship with one another and with the landscape in which they have survived.

“When you actually walk through that landscape, that relationship becomes much easier to understand.”