Shropshire Climate Action: Energy advice and funding Advice & funding Many of the energy-saving measures have reasonably short payback period and if you can afford them they will pay for themselves ECO 4 grants are available for those eligible, including people on benefits The most recent ECO Plus grants (aka the Great British Insulation Scheme) will be available to anyone in poorly insulated (EPC D or below) houses in council tax bands A to D. They are not means tested The Boiler Upgrade Scheme provides grants of £7,500 towards the installation of a heat pump Build your own retrofit plan using the MEA's Plan Builder This Local Installers Directory can help you to find a recommended retrofit installer. What is a Household Energy Survey (HES)? A Household Energy Survey (HES) is a thorough analysis of your home and energy use and would normally include: Heating – boilers, heat pumps, electric heating, controls, radiators/underfloor heating Hot water – storage, distribution and use Insulation – roof/loft, floor, walls, windows and doors and related structural issues Draughtproofing, cold air infiltration and ventilation Lighting and appliances Historic/real-time energy consumption, bills and advice on tariffs Opportunities for renewable energy generation and storage Read on below for local HES providers. Household Energy Survey providers Marches Energy Agency (MEA) provide: free energy advice on saving money on your energy bills and home energy efficiency home visits to conduct Household Energy Surveys via Keep Shropshire Warm/Healthy Homes Shropshire support accessing grants for heating and insulation, resolve issues with energy suppliers and fuel debt energy advisors can also provide drop in advice sessions in local communities. Lightfoot Enterprises provide the following services in south Shropshire and Powys: Household Energy Surveys (HES) : Household Energy Surveys (HES) and associated advice on how to make your home more energy efficient. there are also opportunities to be trained as a volunteer to conduct HES. Stretton Climate Care provide: Household Energy Surveys and information on retrofit for people living within a 5 mile radius of Church Stretton. a free drop in advice session on Thursdays 10-12pm at the Wellbeing Centre, Easthope Road, Church Stretton for any energy related questions including support with energy bills More info Get in touch Find a local trusted installer for your retrofit project A Directory of local trusted contractors for your retrofit project is available on the Marches Energy Agency's Future Ready Homes website . The Directory provides details of recommended installers, trades people and professionals who can help you with retrofitting a building. The area covered by the Directory includes Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin. Click here for the Directory Further helpful websites Energy Saving Trust Financial support for home energy - Energy Company Obligation grants The Boiler Upgrade Scheme - support for low carbon heating systems, such as heat pumps and biomass boilers Shropshir e Council Sustainable Warmth Shropshire - supports low income and vulnerable households to improve energy efficiency. Grants are currently restricted to dwellings that do not have a mains gas connection

< Back Shrewsbury Moves Festival 23 Mar 2025 A celebration of movement and future travel The Shrewsbury Moves Conference, which took place in March was about making better use of public space and improving access to town centres. The conference coincided with the Shrewsbury Moves Festival: a celebration of movement and future travel – from a showcase of sustainable transport to outdoor yoga sessions, running and walking groups, live music and a kids’ fun-day on Sunday, all aimed at showing the health benefits of active travel, how pedestrian-friendly spaces boost the local economy, and the case for accessible, inclusive public areas. There were panel discussions looking at travel and movement in Shrewsbury town centre, and a session in which local young people were invited to share how they would like the town centre to look in future. Speakers included Rhiannon Evans of Active Travel England, Rachel Lee of Living Streets and Kay Inckle of Wheels for Wellbeing. The first two days focussed on “talking movement”, with an evening event hosted by Peter Walker, deputy political editor of The Guardian, along with drop-in talks and panels during the day. Seb Slater, executive director of Shrewsbury BID, which is part of the Big Town Plan Partnership along with Shropshire Council and Shrewsbury Town Council, said: “We are very grateful to Liza Freudmann, of BLA Sustainability, for her hard work in bringing such an impressive range of people to share their experiences with the local community here in Shrewsbury, and to the team at Shropshire Festivals for creating an amazing feast of active entertainment in The Square.” Previous Next

< Back Get ready for the county-wide Green Open Homes event this November Heather Kieniewicz 17 Oct 2025 Book your viewing of energy efficient homes across Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin and beyond Local charity Marches Energy Agency is running Green Open Homes this year across weekends in November. Homeowners across Shropshire, Herefordshire and Telford & Wrekin will be opening their doors to visitors, for free, to show and explain how they’ve made their homes more energy efficient. It’s a unique opportunity for visitors to experience first-hand things like heat pumps, triple glazing, underfloor heating and solar panels, to ask ‘daft’ questions without being made to feel daft, and without any sales pressure. What does underfloor heating actually feel like? How loud is a heap pump really? How much do you save if you have solar panels and a battery? These questions and many more answered! The properties can be found using the postcode search at https://www.greenopenhomes.net/ So start planning your visits! It’s a wonderful opportunity to learn, and to visit some corners of the Marches region you possibly don’t know. In addition to this fantastic event, Marches Energy Agency also offers: surveys and advice for homeowners to support your own home retrofit; a pathway to reach EPC band C if you’re a landlord; and free training and workshops if you’re a builder wanting to expand your retrofit knowledge and grow your business. Check out https://futurereadyhomes.org.uk/ for more information. Previous Next

Shropshire Climate Action: Our climate reports South Shropshire's "Next Steps" Report (2021) South Shropshire Climate Action wrote the ‘Next Steps’ Climate Action Plan which was launched in May 2021. The plan set out practical and achievable steps to enable the Ludlow constituency (as it was known then) to achieve a carbon net zero target by 2030, whilst also contributing to human and environmental health and well-being. The report covered the themes of Land & Biodiversity, Transport, Energy & Buildings, and Communities & Education. In June 2021 (in the frenetic days leading up to COP26) Philip Dunne, M.P. for the Ludlow Constituency, presented the 'Next Steps' Report in the House of Commons and placed the report written by his constituents directly into the hands of the chair of COP26, Alok Sharma M.P. To download the South Shropshire Climate Action report (2021) click on the links below. Download the Next Steps Report (Summary) Download the Next Steps Report (Full - 72mb) South Shropshire Climate Action's End of Project Report (2025) Over 3 years, South Shropshire Climate Action (SSCA) has engaged with community groups, businesses, schools and local networks to begin implementing the strategy outlined in the “Next Steps” Climate Action Plan. Funding from an anonymous donor paid for two Project Co-ordinators, Nick Read and Fiona Morgan (working as a job share). The End of Project report (2025) outlines the Project Co-ordinators' activities, in conjunction with the many volunteers, organisations and networks that comprise South Shropshire Climate Action. Whilst some thematic areas have seen significant progress and a fifth theme of Repair-Reuse-Recycle has been added, others have been difficult to implement. A grant from Shropshire Council’s Climate Change Task Force enabled a research project involving four case studies to be conducted, using Action Learning Research methodology, to ascertain why some approaches to decarbonising Shropshire communities were successful, and others not (see the link to the full Action Learning Research Project report 2025 below). SSCA also helped with Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin’s first county-wide climate conference, drawing delegates from all over Shropshire, on the theme of how to accelerate change towards achieving net zero carbon. Of particular interest was the inclusion of young people in the conference planning and delivery through the Environment Leadership Programme (ELP). The End of Project report concludes with reflections on the last three years, to inform future developments, as the work continues under the auspices of Shropshire Climate Action. Download the Next Steps End of Project Report 2025 Download the Action Learning Project Report 2025 The Zero Carbon Shropshire Plan (2021) The Zero Carbon Shropshire plan was produced by Shropshire Climate Action Partnership in 2021 and looked at how Shropshire as a whole could get to net zero by 2030. Download the Zero Carbon Shropshire Plan A note about Net Zero We appreciate that achieving net zero by 2030 is ambitious, requiring resources and commitments from national and international agencies far beyond our ability to influence. However, SCA in conjunction with Shropshire Council and the Church of England have all adopted 2030 as the date because more urgent action is required than is being achieved by the government’s commitment to achieve net zero by 2050.

Shropshire Climate Action: Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin's emissions Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin's emissions We often get questions about whether the county is making progress on reducing its Green House Gas (GHG) emissions. While GHG savings can be measured for say a household or an organisation (using carbon footprinting tools ), and there are some general estimates available of the impacts of particular actions (e.g. not driving a petrol car) based on academic research, there is no easy way of calculating a figure for the county bottom-up. However, we can use the data provided by the Department for Energy and Net Zero which are calculated top-down, with Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin apportioned a percentage of the UK emissions based on its geography and characteristics. Below is a progress chart for Green House Gas emissions for Shropshire, Telford& Wrekin. To keep within our carbon budget and to around 1.5C of warming, we need to get to an average of approx 2.5t CO2 emissions per individual in the UK by 2030 so are not currently on track to do that. Shropshire's emissions According to the Impact community carbon calculator* , Shropshire’s residents are responsible for emitting 3,467,883 tonnes of CO2e per annum.** This pie chart shows the relative impact of the Greenhouse Gas emissions (GHGs) across the sectors represented in the South Shropshire Climate Action “Next Steps” report. * The Impact tool has been developed by the Centre for Sustainable Energy and Exeter University as a data visualisation tool which allows you to look at household emissions within geographical boundaries (parishes, local authority areas, etc). **(CO2e stands for Carbon Dioxide equivalent; the warming impacts of any GHG can be measured relative to that of a molecule of CO2, the standard unit of measurement). A note on data There are many carbon calculators and each measures greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) in different ways. Comparing the results from different calculators can lead to misunderstandings or false conclusions. Please read this even if, or especially if, data is not your thing. When South Shropshire Climate Action wrote the Next Steps report transport’s contribution to Shropshire’s GHGs was assessed at 37%. This was based on the most accurate published data at the time from the UK government, but the government data did not include any assessment for the two most significant agricultural GHGs, methane and nitrous oxide. In more recent published data sets these two GHGs have been added, and this changes the percentage contributions from other sources, such as transport. Thus, the Impact Calculator assesses agriculture as 27% and transport as 32%. It is important to understand that the apparent reduction in transport’s contribution to Shropshire’s GHG emissions is not because there has been a decrease in transport emissions, but reflects that agricultural emissions were significantly under stated in older published datasets. The two most significant sectors for GHGs in Shropshire remain as agriculture and transport, and both need to be addressed if we are to reach net zero.

Shropshire Climate Action: Schools & Youth Groups Resources for schools & youth groups Schools, youth clubs, Scouts and Guides groups play a vital role in educating young people about the climate crisis, sustainability and active travel and showing how they can be part of the solution. Generation Zero Carbon Shropshire - a group of young adults aged 16-30 living in Shropshire during the covid pandemic who were affiliated to Zero Carbon Shropshire - and Deborah Murphy, a former deputy head teacher, created many of the resources on this page. They wanted to ensure Shropshire’s younger citizens have a voice in the ongoing debate about carbon emissions. Resources have also been provided by the Teach The Future campaign which aims to reform the UK education system around the issues of climate justice, the natural world, and sustainability. Let's Go Zero - a national campaign uniting teachers, pupils, parents and their schools to become zero carbon by 2030 - also provides support to schools. You can book one of their Climate Action Advisors to give free and tailored advice to help green school buildings, transport, menus and more. Watch this video Young people from Generation Zero Carbon Shropshire created this video for Key Stage 3 students. Listen to what they have to say about the climate crisis and what young people in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin can do about it. Key Stage 3 sustainability resources These sustainability resources for schools were designed by Generation Zero Carbon Shropshire and former deputy head teacher Deborah Murphy to be used for stand-alone sessions with KS3 students. This material is intended to launch discussion about the climate crisis, sustainability and the goal of zero carbon emissions in Shropshire by 2030. This lesson will suit a range of settings including: PHSCE, Citizenship English - extend into persuasive letter writing Flexible Learning Days Catch up Literacy sessions Youth Club, Scouts, Guides, youth group sessions . Click the orange links to download the resources : the video above - suitable for assemblies, tutorial time, break times etc. lesson plan for a stand-alone lesson that can be adapted to meet specific needs. Activities can be stretched to allow deeper exploration if required powerpoint presentation to accompany the lesson plan key words sheet sustainability pledge sheet What can I do now poster letter template for a school action plan to email to Shropshire Climate Action via: contact@shropshireclimateaction.org Active Travel to School For more information about the support available to schools to encourage their pupils to walk and cycle to school see our page on Active Travel (scroll to the bottom of the page) How to decarbonise a school in Clun Read the Action Learning Project case study of St George's CE Academy, Clun and their journey to decarbonise their school. including: which strategies are most effective in encouraging participation in activities designed to reduce carbon emissions at a community level what barriers and challenges lay in the way of the group making progress. The action learning project report (2025) was produced by South Shropshire Climate Action with support from a grant from Shropshire Council to explore how communities in Shropshire can achieve Net Zero by 2030.

< Back In December we clanged for COP28 in Shrewsbury Fiona Morgan 9 Dec 2023 Part of the Climate Justice Coalition Day of Action On the 9th December groups and individuals, including those from environmental and faith organisations, met in Shrewsbury as part of the Climate Justice Coalition Day of Action and held a protest march “WHILE COP TALKS - WYLE COP RISES!”. Gathering at the bottom of Wyle Cop, we made the most of Shrewsbury’s traffic-free weekends to march and drum together around the town helping to raise the alarm about the lack of action on the climate crisis, stopping to support the North West Relief Road protest outside Market Hall. Previous Next

Shropshire Climate Action: Buses Buses South Shropshire Climate Action (SSCA) sent Shropshire Council "15 Transport Asks" . These are the four relating to public transport. 1. Transform bus services to maximise the shift from car trips to buses 2. Fund the transformation of all buses so that they are zero carbon 3. Introduce a “one ticket” public transport policy covering all buses regardless of operator and all local rail (see for example, Transport for Cornwall ). 4. Design and fund a best practice Park and Ride service for Ludlow and Bridgnorth served by electric buses. SSCA received a response from Shropshire Council. Click here to read their answers Every village, every hour campaign CPRE's "Every v illage, every hour" report (2021) sets out what a comprehensive bus network for England would look like, with services to every village every hour, and the scale of investment required. It would provide a bus service fit for the climate emergency and address the inequality and social exclusion caused by the dominance of cars in rural life. Shropshire-based campaign group BeST: Better Shrewsbury Transport BeST (Better Shrewsbury Transport) comprises a group of organisatio ns and individuals keen to engage positively with the council to promote active and sustainable solutions to the town’s transport challen ges. It is campaigning for urgent action to promote active and sustainable modes of transport.

Shropshire Climate Action: Town & Parish Councils What can you do as a Town & Parish Council? Take action Parish and Town Councils are at the heart of our communities and can play a key role in cascading information to people about the climate crisis and how we can adjust our lives - through a change of diet, how we heat and light our buildings, how we travel, and what we buy so we reuse and recycle. Sign up to a Climate Fresk workshop Climate Fresk is a 3 hour facilitated workshop where you can get to grips with climate change in small groups in a safe, non-judgemental space, learn how to take action and enjoy some thought-provoking discussions. The workshops explore key drivers, mechanisms, and impacts of climate change, and map out where we are today and where we could be headed if we join forces. If you are a town or parish council and want to book a half day Climate Fresk workshop find out more via the BizEd Projects website or email climate@bizedprojects.com Use the Impact Community Carbon Calculator to assess your community's carbon footprint The Centre for Sustainable Energy has developed the online Impact Community Carbon Calculator tool. It calculates the total amount of greenhouse gases produced directly and indirectly as a result of everyday human activities (heating homes, using electricity, transport, producing and distributing food, disposing of waste, etc.) at the level of parishes, wards, district councils and unitary authorities. It helps communities target their resources to gain the greatest impact in reducing emissions. Use this toolkit to identify actions councils can take The Great Collaboration has designed a toolkit to help Town and Parish Councils identify the carbon reduction actions you have taken, want to take or are unable to take. The data is summarised into a Local Council Report that can be presented at a council meeting. The insights given in the report enable you to see what is happening in your local community and this valuable information can be used to inform your own Carbon Action Plan. Write a Town or Parish Council Climate Action Plan To help you: Use the Impact data to guide the priorities you set in your council’s climate action plan. Read some of the plans Shropshire Town and Parish Councils have already devised: o See Bishop Castle’s Climate and Nature Action Plan update 2024-25 o See Clun's Climate Action Plan update 2023 A simple proforma was developed for Wem Town Council’s climate action plan . A blank template for your Cli ma te Action Plan can be found here. Make your community buildings more energy efficient and save money The Centre for Sustainable Energy has a Community Action Plan guide on how to retrofit a community building Find local trusted contractors for your retrofit project via Marches Energy Agency's Future Ready Homes website . The directory provides details of recommended installers, trades people and professionals who can help you with retrofitting a building. The area covered by this directory includes Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin. The Marches Energy Grant (MEG) scheme offers free advice, energy assessments and grants for energy efficiency and renewable energy measures to SMEs from all sectors. The funding is also available to support community buildings. The project also provides networking and webinar events for SMEs and other organisations. Sign up via: www.marchesgrowthhub.co.uk/marches-energy-grant for a free energy efficiency audit to assess equipment, premises, processes and performance and identify opportunities for improvements in energy usage. Grants are available for projects worth up to £20,000 (some match funding is required) . Big Solar Co-op installs solar panels on rooftops which are the size of a tennis court or bigger, and where the building has high electricity usage (prior to 2022 prices, at least £20k in electricity bills). See their website to find out more or submit information about your site via https://bigsolar.coop/submit-a-site/ for an assessment and response from the local coordinator. Share your successful local projects with Carbon Copy Carbon Copy is a national charity offering ideas and motivation to drive local action to protect us from climate breakdown and defend Nature. The Carbon Copy network includes climate action stories from over 1,000 UK organisations (including some in Shropshire ) and area-specific information about the changing climate and Climate Action Plans. Add your success story here .

Shropshire Climate Action: Renewable Energy in Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin Renewable energy production in Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin Read information about the potential renewable energy capacity across Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin and why we support solar farms and roof top solar Read the Shropshire Renewable Energy Opportunity Map report (Full .pdf -100Mb) Browse the Renewable Energy maps via Shropshire Council's website Renewable Energy Mapping for Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin How much renewable energy potential is there in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin? Where is it, and how could it impact the local economy? What future infrastructure will be needed to support the journey towards net zero carbon Shropshire by 2030? Shropshire Council funded Zero Carbon Shropshire to explore these questions in 2021. The mapping exercise looked at where the opportunities are for ground-mounted solar and wind farm development in Shropshire and the associated grid constraints and opportunities, to help plan for the development of the local energy industry for decarbonising residential, industrial and other energy use. The series of on-line maps show the siting possibilities of such infrastructure with the aim of helping inform planning decisions to provide a strategic approach to energy development in Shropshire and to promote the development of the local energy industry. Watch the webinar discussing the report and maps recorded on the 20 October 2021. The Benefits of Solar Farms The whole world is undergoing an enormous and rapid change in the way it gets its energy, moving away from burning fossil fuels to cleaner, renewable sources such as wind and solar. While climate change is the main driver, political and economic instability in the gas and oil markets are also becoming important factors. We make the case below about the benefits of solar farms as an important part of the UK’s future energy mix. What about coal, oil and gas? They’ve served us well for two hundred years We cannot depend on fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas) in the long-term as they: give off greenhouse gases which are changing the earth’s climate, leading to long-term problems for humans and nature are highly polluting, which is damaging to human health and nature are a finite resource and are becoming too expensive, so more and more people cannot afford them, leading to fuel poverty What about hydrogen? Hydrogen gives off only water when burned and can be used as a direct replacement for most fossil fuel uses. The big problem with hydrogen is there isn’t enough that’s easy to get at and naturally occurring to meet our needs, meaning we’ll have to make it. Hydrogen can be made from water but it takes a lot of energy, which we’d either have to get from burning fossil fuels or from renewables. Using hydrogen, therefore, could meet some of our energy needs but only if we also fully commit to renewables like wind, solar and the rest. Haven’t you forgotten biomass? Biomass means stuff that grows or waste from stuff that grows, such as trees, animal manure and food waste, all of which can be burned or converted to bio-gas using anaerobic digestion which can then be burned to generate energy. Biomass is considered a renewable because other living things can grow to replace what has been used. However, unlike other renewables, biomass gives off greenhouse gases, which contribute to global warming. Although making ‘new’ biomass will re-absorb the carbon release in burning the previous material, this takes time – think how long it takes for trees to grow. So biomass, can only ever be a partial fix to the UK energy mix problem. The National Grid: wind versus solar - generating electricity where it's needed The National Grid has been designed to carry electricity from power stations to where it is used. Changing where we generate our electricity from in-shore power stations to large offshore wind farms bringing their power ashore at a small number of places will place impossible loads on the National Grid, meaning we will have to redesign it at great cost to consumers. Solar farms and rooftop solar can be installed much closer to where the energy is needed which means much less re-design work for the National Grid and, therefore, far less cost to the consumer. It is inevitable that local renewable generation and local consumption, possibly linked to local tariff arrangements, will form part of the UK electricity landscape in the future. Is it true that land cannot be returned to agriculture at the end of the lifetime of a solar farm? No, this is not true. A solar farm leaves no permanent effect on land. It can be removed in a few days and the site reverted back to whatever use it previously had or an alternative. In a couple of years it would be impossible to tell that a solar farm had ever been there. While it is in place, the soil also has a chance to improve its own micro-structures and fauna if it is not being used for intensive agriculture. This is not the case with a power station – think about all the ‘brown field’ sites that we have to spend money on in order to clean up and re-use. I have heard that solar panels contain lead and that this can enter the environment – is this true? Like all electronic apparatus solar panels and control systems contain lead (in the solder used to make electrical connections) and other rare metals. These cannot leave the device when in use, but the equipment must be disposed of properly at the end of its use, either by re-use elsewhere or by proper re-cycling. The elements that can be recovered are of value (many are scarce) so there is a strong financial as well as legislative imperative to recover these. Given that these installations may have lifetimes of 30 or 40 years, the need for this recovery will increase into the future. Already, the scrap value of ‘old’ consumer electronics from your local recycling centre has increased several-fold. The alternatives to fossil fuels include renewables The most obvious alternative sources of energy that do not give off greenhouse gases are: Renewables (wind, solar, hydro, geothermal, wave and tidal) Nuclear Hydrogen Renewables can be used for most things we currently use fossil fuels for and are endlessly available – the wind is always blowing somewhere, the sun is shining, rivers are flowing, waves are forming in the sea and the Earth’s core is generating heat. What about nuclear? While we can perhaps use nuclear as part of our future energy mix, we cannot rely on it as a replacement for fossil fuels. This is because existing nuclear power stations are nearing the end of their useful lives and new ones take a very long time to build, are hugely expensive and present significant risks. We still don’t have a good way of safely dealing with nuclear waste. Why can’t we rely solely on offshore wind farms? In the UK wind farms are now big business and wind turbines are very efficient at converting wind into electricity, so why do we need solar at all? The UK Government has set targets for onshore and offshore wind capacity to be installed by 2030 and 2050. These targets, together with some existing nuclear capacity, do not meet the likely total UK electricity demand. We will therefore need to continue to burn gas to make up the shortfall or turn to other renewable sources such as solar. It therefore makes sense to increase energy generation from all renewable sources. In addition, offshore wind farms aren’t in the best location to provide electricity to all parts of the UK and sometimes the wind doesn’t blow. I hear solar farms are not efficient, so why would we build them? Solar panels are usually between 15 and 22% efficient , meaning they convert 15-22% of the sun’s energy that falls on them to electricity. This is much less than wind turbines at 50%+ or a standard gas boiler at as much as 94% or even a standard car engine at between 60 and 85%. Efficiency is an important consideration if you are dealing with a limited resource. However, wind and solar are free and readily available, whereas gas and petrol have to be found, mined, refined and transported – think of North Sea oil rigs, oil tankers, gas pipes and petrol stations – meaning their efficiency is much less than it may appear. Grazing sheep and bee-keeping on solar farms are token gestures aren’t they? No, this is not ‘tokenism’. During the life time of the solar farm, the land could, for example, be used for livestock grazing or bee-keeping, both of which can generate additional income for the land owner. The presence of bees and other pollinators is a good sign that biodiversity is improving. Or the land could simply be left to lie fallow or managed to encourage wild flowers to grow thereby invigorating nature. All of these possible uses, without pesticide or fertiliser application, will allow the soil fertility and condition to improve and flora and fauna to flourish, increasing the biodiversity and health of the ecosystem. Do solar farms undermine our food security? 60% of our food is imported, land is being taken out of cultivation at a rate of almost 100,000 acres per year, and yields are declining due to the effect of global heating. Can we afford to lose more arable land to the development of solar farms? Economics, consumer habits and expectations are the major drivers of food imports, not the proportion of land used in the UK. The availability of best and most versatile (BMV) land may be more than enough if alternative crop varieties and new forms of growing (hydroponics etc) become commonplace. Moreover, the land used for a solar farm can quickly and completely return to farming use if needed. It is for landowners to decide how they manage and use their land. The idea that good land is somehow ‘poorly used’ if it has a solar farm temporarily sited on it is not the whole story – the reasons for this are far more complex. Many traditional forms of agriculture are not financially sustainable. We should be asking “why do landowners look to solar farms and other schemes as the only viable business for their land?”. Big Solar Co-op installs solar panels on rooftops which are the size of a tennis court or bigger, and where the building has high electricity usage (prior to 2022 prices, at least £20k in electricity bills). See their website to find out more. Or submit information about your site via https://bigsolar.coop/submit-a-site/ for an assessment and response from the local coordinator.