The Times
by Ben Ellery
Tenant farmers have fended off a proposal linked to Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg’s wife to kick them off their land to make way for solar panels.
Rob Sturdy, whose grandfather Guy moved to Eden Farm in Malton, Yorkshire, in 1954, faced the prospect of being forced to leave almost half the land by the trust which ultimately owns it.
The Fitzwilliam Trust Corporation counts Helena Rees-Mogg, the wife of the MP for North East Somerset, as a director.
The trust wanted to install solar panels on the land but this week the North Yorkshire strategic planning committee disregarded a recommendation by a planning officer and voted against the proposal.
The decision could be a landmark case for such disputes.
The solar panel company behind the plan was Harmony Energy. Green energy companies will pay landowners £800 to £1,200 per acre a year to site solar panels, according to estimates. Sturdy said that was about ten times what it received from agricultural farmers.
His farm is 280 acres and under the proposal 110 acres would be lost to solar panels. Sturdy’s tenancy agreement, signed in 1971 by his late father John, allowed for the land to pass through three generations.
Malcolm Taylor, a councillor, told the meeting:
“The application is risking swapping fuel security for food security.”
The proposal was voted against, ten to four. Sturdy’s wife, Emma, 45, said:
“Finding new sources of energy is extremely important but we don’t need to ruin people’s livelihoods to do it.”
A spokesman for Harmony Energy said:
“We are disappointed by the decision. We would like to be clear that we did consider the circumstances of the tenant farmers, by providing a generous package for the lifetime of the development.”
The Fitzwilliam Trust Corporation was approached for comment.