Large-scale Energy Projects and Food Security Debate
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Jim Shannon
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Large-scale Energy Projects and Food Security
Jim Shannon Excerpts(2 months ago)
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Llinos Medi (Ynys Môn) (PC)
I beg to move,
That this House has considered large scale energy projects and food security.
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Mark. Today is an opportunity to highlight the importance of food security in the face of the climate crisis, which is the biggest threat to food security. I believe that we must tackle climate change in a smart way that works best for our economy and communities. That is particularly true of areas where agriculture plays an important part in the economy and sustainability of our communities.
My constituency of Ynys Môn has been known as Môn Mam Cymru, or the mother of Wales, as the island’s fertile lands were used to grow food for all of Wales during the middle ages. Farming and agriculture are an important part of the island’s heritage and economy.
Ynys Môn is also known as energy island. We have a vital and developing tidal sector, onshore wind farms and two solar farms, with another one approved. We also have the nuclear site at Wylfa. I urge the UK Government to commit to a new nuclear power station at what is the best site in the UK.
Food and energy production are two strands that run throughout our island’s history, in balance with one another, not in opposition. However, I fear that recent developments will upset that balance. There are proposals for two large-scale solar farms on the north of Ynys Môn, covering 3,700 acres, around 2% of the island. The biggest of the two proposals—Maen Hir energy—is five times the size of the UK’s largest active solar farm. It will have a generating capacity of 360 MW and be considered a nationally significant infrastructure project, requiring development consent from the UK Secretary of State. Maen Hir will take up 3,173 acres of land to host solar panels and the associated infrastructure. The developer, Lightsource bp, says that the land predominantly consists of agricultural fields.
Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)
I commend the hon. Lady for bringing forward this debate. This is an incredibly important issue—it was important in the last Parliament, and it certainly is in this one. Does she agree that we must continue with the previous Government’s intent to ensure that the best agricultural land is used as such, and not for solar farms? The improving farm productivity grant allowed rooftop solar panels to receive grants, and is an essential tool in helping farmers to farm and to do so in a sustainable and somewhat better and more profitable manner.