Over 270 people have submitted their views about plans for a solar farm in Eden.
High Rigg Solar wants to create the farm on land near Calthwaite and submitted a planning application earlier this year.
A public consultation ended yesterday, Thursday September 18 and people from the local area, plus Kent, County Durham and Devon, told Westmorland & Furness Council what they thought.
It is claimed the 30MW solar farm would generate enough electricity to power 14,500 homes.
The plans have provoked outrage and a public meeting has been held about the proposals.
Joanne Berry, of Hythe in Kent, told the council: “There are thousands of brown fields that these plans could go into, but instead you are adamant on destroying quality land suitable for sustainability.
“It’s advertised as a way to help net zero, but how does this work when we are destroying local farmers businesses and all our arable land?
“If we have no farmland left to grow our crops because of these solar farms creating ‘net zero’ how does this work when we then need to import more food in from other countries?”
David Briggs, of Darlington, said: “I am a very frequent visitor to the Lake District and the Eden Valley and was extremely upset to find out that there has been an application for a substantial solar development in the area.
“I am very much in favour of a greener approach to energy, however, I am against the use of arable land of any grade.
“It is clear from the photographs of this site that this is a fully viable farm. With the current pressures on food security in the UK I would object strongly to arable land being used for this type of development. This is a totally inefficient use of land in this way.”
The planning application is currently being considered by planning officers at Westmorland & Furness Council.
