Parking fines for traders beggar belief

I thought Swindon Borough Council wanted to encourage people to the town centre, not turn them away, so what do they do? They give parking fines to market traders. It beggars belief.

Your paper said (November 18) that records show they were only given fines when they were parked outside the eyesore tented market, which we were told had to be shut years ago and then it was left to rot like so many other buildings in Swindon.

So we just get a good market and what do our beloved council do? Give out parking fines.

The council has wasted millions on projects that haven't worked. For goodness' sake sort yourselves out and do something for the people of Swindon.

Mrs L Townsend

Redcliffe Street

Rodbourne

Solar farms can work with agriculture

When former Prime Minister Liz Truss proposed the reclassification of farmland that would ban the development of solar across nearly 60 per cent of agricultural land in England, I was disappointed but not entirely surprised.

Her position on renewables, and solar in particular, was abundantly clear but profoundly misguided.

The argument that increasing solar developments poses a threat to the UK’s food security is alien to me, having heard first-hand that this kind of diversification is often the only thing allowing farmers to continue operating at all.

As a rural county, Wiltshire currently has a large farming community, but I fear that pursuing this plan to limit solar will not only damage our ability to reach our net zero targets but will also result in many farmers going under altogether – and what will that do for food security?

Allowing farmers to diversify their landholdings enables them to thrive as a farming business, with most solar co-existing with grazing or other agricultural use.

About 40 per cent of farmers in the UK generate some form of renewable or low-carbon energy via solar, wind and farm by-products and crops, according to the National Farmers’ Union.

The industry body publicly defended the development of renewable projects across the UK’s agricultural landscape, considering them a core part of its own net zero plan and a good diversification option for farmers struggling to balance the books in the face of rising costs of fertiliser, feed, and energy.

In a 2019 report, the same group found that farmers own or host about 1,200 solar farms which contribute to 70 per cent of the UK’s solar panels.

The energy they generate meets about 10 per cent of the UK’s needs, so the potential for farmers to improve energy security is huge.

Banning them from using their own land to support themselves and the planet seems absurd.

Around the world, there’s an ‘agrivoltaic’ revolution taking place – with solar co-located alongside everything from fruit trees and veggies to cattle, bees, and vines. Let’s hope Therese Coffey sees the light and chooses to support, not stifle Wiltshire’s farmers as they strive to achieve the same success.

Julian Barlow

Chairman

Wiltshire Wildlife Community Energy

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