Rob Waltham has promised to fight "tooth and nail" to protect Lincolnshire's green spaces and agricultural land from solar farms, using every power available to the new Mayor, if he is elected.
With a proven track record across the last 15 years, including as the leader of North Lincolnshire Council, Rob has successfully opposed dozens of applications for solar developments like in Belton, North Lincolnshire, in 2011.
Now, as the Conservative candidate for Mayor of Greater Lincolnshire, he has pledged to harness the full power of the Combined Authority to stop the solar projects, including the current wave of applications threatening to cover tens of thousands of acres in Lincolnshire’s rural heartlands.
He says: "These sprawling solar installations do not belong on our beautiful countryside nor farmland.
"For more than a decade, I’ve fought tooth and nail to stop developers from industrialising the countryside, and as Mayor I’ll escalate that fight using the might of the Combined Authority to protect the land for generations to come."
An estimated 30,000 acres of land has been earmarked by developers across a number of schemes which have either been approved or proposed.
Rob's stance is in stark contrast to rival Reform candidate Andrea Jenkyns, who has previously backed solar farm development - even proudly opening a site in 2017 in Wakefield when she was a Yorkshire MP.
Rob Waltham says: "I have a proven track record of opposing solar farms and I will continue to do that if elected as Mayor. The future of Lincolnshire’s farmland is not a bargaining chip for opportunists."
Rob expressed empathy for Lincolnshire’s farmers, who face relentless pressure from the current government to surrender their land. “Our farmers are being battered into submission and they’re under assault from policies, like Labour’s Family Farms Tax, which greatly undervalues their work.
"We are facing an assault on our rural way of life. The lifestyle, the community - that’s what matters. Turning fields into solar factories that power far away cities, and create no new local jobs, erodes the soul of Lincolnshire, and I will not stand for it.
“These schemes are propped up by hefty government subsidies, the cost of which is ultimately passed on to people like you and me in our energy bills. Meanwhile, city-living socialists rake in massive dividends, whilst wrecking our countryside and threatening our food security.”
