Nationally, it’s been a week where there’s been much publicity about the roll-out of the Pfizer vaccine and the choices being made as to who gets it.
That a certain William Shakespeare was the second person to receive it has led to many a bardic comment in the press.
The author of the programme, one Matthew Hancock-up, didn’t bleed when prick’d, he cried, though whether they were tears of joy or anguish isn’t clear.
Opinions vary as to him not bleeding: a) because he’s a government minister (and therefore must be one the bloodless horde feasting on the jugular of a once great Britain); or b) because there was no prick.
The latter hasn’t got much traction because it’s clear there were at least two at the time. Both of them verbal.
Sunny side up
Locally, it’s been a week when Wokingham Borough’s planning committee has been deliberating the topic of the Borough’s first major solar farm, among other things.
And while there’s no doubt that we as a nation need sources of electric energy to power the economy now that North Sea oil’s running down and nuclear’s very costly, there are misgivings as to where solar farms should be put.
But because this one’s under 50 megawatts, by law it isn’t a matter for the secretary of state to decide, it’s a matter for the Local Planning Authority – WBC.
Some of us might breathe a sigh of relief that it isn’t the right, the honourable, Robert Jenrick MP of Westferry printworks planning permission and subsequent party donation repute; nor of “numbers, what numbers, we didn’t publish any numbers” planning review fame. However it’s given the Borough an unenviable decision.
Here’s a couple of scenarios to give you an idea of what’s at stake.
Boroughs of the First Kind
This is a borough that’s followed the national planning guidance published in 2015 and which has sought public opinion, debated the optionsat full council and then decided its policy as well as its strategy for solar developments.
It’s gone on to modify the local plan to show which parts of the borough are/aren’t suitablefor solar and published a Planning Advice Note that guides developers as to what’s expected when they apply for planning permission.
The solar farm sites have been located on land that isn’t suitable for agriculture or housing and which don’t become an eyesore because they’re tucked away out of sight.
At the same time, consideration’s been given to the reflected glare and glint from the solar panels in a way which doesn’t inconvenience or harm neighbouring activities or people going by.
This borough’s trained all of its planning committee councillors and staff on the issues to help them make well informed decisions, based on the agreed policies, strategy and guidance.
Because the whole matter of solar farming is relatively new, they’ve decided to license solar farms for limited time periods, keeping a close watch on their environmental impact and using the license fee to fund any inspections or professional advice needed.
Boroughs of the second kind
This is the borough that’s not given much thought to the business of solar farms but which is keen to have them ‘because they’re a good thing’ as they help get us to carbon neutral.
They’ve decided to keep to a ‘light touch’ (pardon the pun) in terms of regulation and as long as a developer can show the amount of land needed for their development, that’s about all that’s required.
Of course, if the developer wants to bung in a few additional drawings to show what the finished item will look like and what its impact on the local landscape and biodiversity will be, so much the better.
The planning staff haven’t been given any guidance, they’re professionals so they can learn national policy and understand and apply it. The planning committee’s completely in the dark, reliant on hearsay (or the internet) to help them make the correct choice.
And just like houses, these planning applications are for keeps, so once a bit of land is zoned solar, it stays that way. Forever.
When the solar farm’s next to (or either side of) a road, it’ll be hard to prove that glare from the panels temporarily blinded a motorist, so any subsequent crash must have been driver error. After all, the solar farm’s got planing permission, so it must be okay.
There might a bit of agricultural land lost, or soil erosion from water running off the panels then down the hill, but those glorious solar panels perched high above hedgerows will be visible far and wide, a kind of civic tramp stamp (that later politicians will find just as hard to remove).
And as long as the local bigwigs get some good publicity when it’s opened, job’s a good ‘un.
The last word
The two borough’s comparison is an unashamed mix of fact and fiction and no political sensitivities were intentionally harmed in the writing of this commentary.
But which borough do you want and which one do you think you’ll get?
Meanwhile, Wokingham Borough has announced this week that it’s dropped its flagship policy to develop Grazeley, so the revised local plan that it’s been working on for these past five years has been unceremoniously dumped.
Wonder if we’ve learnt anything?
