The Welsh Conservatives have tabled a motion in the Senedd, set for debate next week, urging the Welsh Labour Government to take decisive action on solar energy policy to protect agricultural land and ensure a sustainable energy future for Wales.
Agricultural land is essential to feeding the nation and allowing solar panel developments on fertile farmland threatens Wales’s food security.
Solar energy has the potential to boost Wales’s green energy credentials and the Welsh Government must review that potential whilst ensuring that alternative locations for potential solar sites are always explored as we cannot rely on agricultural land which has a far greater purpose.
In light of this, the Welsh Conservatives are calling for a cohesive solar energy strategy, one which ensures the development of renewable energy infrastructure in a way that supports Wales’s climate goals while protecting its agricultural heritage. The Welsh Conservatives have brought forward a Senedd motion calling on the Welsh Labour Government to initiate this.
Commenting ahead of the debate, Welsh Conservative Shadow Secretary for Economy, Energy & Rural Affairs, Samuel Kurtz MS, said:
“It is essential that we do all we can to protect our assets, and that includes safeguarding fertile farmland from being paved over for solar panels.
“While securing our energy future is important, it must not come at the expense of our agricultural land. Undermining farming in this way threatens food security and rural livelihoods.
“Farming needs a friend in Wales, and by ensuring that the Welsh Government lays out plans that protect agricultural land from new solar panel applications, we are proving that the Welsh Conservatives are the friend farming deserves.”
Commenting ahead of the debate, Welsh Conservative Shadow Secretary for Climate Change and the Environment, Janet Finch-Saunders MS, said:
“Solar energy is a vital part of Wales’s journey toward renewable energy independence.
“We need a clear and sustainable solar strategy that balances renewable energy development with the protection of our farmland. The current lack of strategy risks undermining both our energy goals and our food security.
“That’s why we’re calling for a review of the potential of solar energy in Wales and for a solar strategy for Wales. It’s time for the Welsh Government to deliver a strategy that works for both the environment and the economy.”
To propose that the Senedd:
1. Calls on the Welsh Government to:
a) announce a moratorium on all applications to place solar panels on agricultural land;
b) undertake a review of the potential of solar energy in Wales; and
c) develop a solar strategy for Wales.
ENDS
