Posted on Friday 12th December 2025
Solar panels pictured on Wombourne library: Staffordshire County Council wants to see more solar panels in urban locations and fewer large-scale sites on good quality farming land.
Councillors have backed calls to lobby central government on creating a coherent land-use policy for solar development.
Concerns about the apparent ad-hoc distribution of large-scale solar energy farms, or battery energy storage systems (BESS), have been backed by members at a meeting of Staffordshire County Council’s Full Council.
Speaking after the meeting, Andrew Mynors, Staffordshire County Council’s Cabinet member for Connectivity, said:
There are real concerns about the way developers are wanting to build industrial scale solar farms in the countryside.
We are not against the development of solar or alternative energy altogether but using good quality farmland this way forces Staffordshire to make a choice between food and energy security.
We want to see a better system which recognises the competing demands for land and manages planning applications in a more coordinated, strategic way.”
The Council is looking to align with others to lobby Government to stop the solar land grab and recognise the importance of food security, have planning applications considered at a countywide strategic level, and ensure local communities benefit properly from hosting the invasive infrastructure.
Andrew Mynors added:
Government is saying that we need energy self-sufficiency, but in a farming county like Staffordshire we also know the importance of food self-sufficiency.
There is a national policy for creating EV charging infrastructure but nothing to govern the spread of solar farms and their battery plants and that doesn’t make sense.
There needs to be a clear understanding of what is allowed where, and under what circumstances, as well as developing the use of solar energy in urban locations so that the burden is not falling disproportionately on rural counties such as Staffordshire.”
Residents, groups and communities backing the call for a balanced land-use policy can register their support here .