Last month, we won an important vote, defeating the Labour-Green administration in establishing the principle that roofs and brownfield sites should be prioritised for renewable energy development before productive agricultural land is considered. There are several controversial proposals in the offing for large-scale solar farms, which threaten to industrialise literally hundreds of acres of Monmouthshire countryside.

The two main parties on Monmouthshire County Council, Labour and Conservatives are equally sized with 19 councillors each, one Green who always votes with Labour and a small group of independents in the middle. So, we never quite know how important votes will go.

Across the county, there is growing concern at several proposals for large-scale ground-mounted solar developments. Among the schemes attracting significant public attention is the proposed Candwr Solar Farm between Ponthir and Llangybi.

The proposed solar farm near Llangybi would cover around 300 acres of farmland, generating up to 46MW of renewable electricity. The scheme is currently at the consultation stage, with local concerns focusing on landscape impact, loss of agricultural land, biodiversity and construction traffic, while supporters highlight its contribution to renewable energy generation.

We share concerns about climate change and the consequences are becoming more and more brutal. We support measures to mitigate climate change like expanding renewables, but the council should be moving faster to install solar panels above car parks, like the solar car ports installed in Magor a few years ago.

We shouldn’t harm our countryside when there are alternatives to agricultural land. Installing solar canopies above car parks provides a source of power for electric vehicles as well as much-needed shade in the summer and they are not visibly intrusive.

Our motion was led by our Conservative colleague Fay Bromfield, who has been campaigning against the solar farm near Llangybi. The motion noted concerns about the increasing loss of productive farmland for energy generation and the cumulative impact that multiple large-scale solar farms could have on the county's landscape, farming economy, biodiversity, tourism sector and long-term food security.

As a result of the motion, the council has written to the Welsh Government, calling for planning frameworks to be strengthened with a presumption against large-scale ground-mounted solar developments on prime agricultural land. The council also called for a ‘rooftops before fields’ approach, encouraging developers to prioritise commercial and industrial rooftops, public buildings, car parks, brownfield sites and other previously developed land before considering productive farmland.