WHILE Halloween is usually a day for the more spooky and scarier affairs, the campaigners behind the ‘Stop Beacon Solar’ promised only tricks and no treats if the vast solar farm plans surrounding Holsworthy Beacon went ahead.

Hundreds of concerned locals packed Holsworthy Memorial Hall to hear speeches from the Devon branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), the area’s MP and the chair of the Stop Beacon Solar campaign to address why they object to the plans.

After an introduction by Steve Crowther, the chairman of Devon CPRE, the stage was set for the area’s MP to bellow a rallying cry for those against the plans to work together to stop the 2,700-acre solar farm currently the subject of announced proposals.

At the meeting, the MP for Torridge and Tavistock, Sir Geoffrey Cox, said he is ‘implacably opposed’ to the use of agricultural land, which he describes as an ‘alien proposal’ that is ‘imposed upon us’.

He added that he thinks the land should be used for food while urging those in attendance to be focused and concentrate objections on planning reasons.

The MP also promised to set up a panel of legal experts to help the campaign defeat the proposals.

Sir Geoffrey said he is going to apply to become a party to the examination panel, as the MP, and says he will do so with legal support (people he knows in the profession), to the panel who will examine the plans.

He added: “We will hold other meetings of this kind to help guide the objections, but we will need to formulate and hone the case against it.”

Summarising his speech, Sir Geoffrey, issued a rallying cry, adding that he promises that there will be a mounted ‘fierce resistance’, adding: “If they (the developers) think they have chosen a place where communities will not fight this alien intrusion on Devon land, they have another thing coming.”

Galileo Empower, the developer behind the proposals, states of its plans: “With a generating capacity of more than 100 megawatts (MW), Beacon Solar will deliver homegrown renewable electricity to thousands of UK homes – reducing its reliance on fossil fuels.

“This is just one of the many positive ways Beacon Solar can have a significant impact on the lives of the people of Torridge.

“As a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) our Beacon Solar will require a Development Consent Order (DCO). Beacon Solar will play a key role in helping the UK meet its net zero and solar deployment targets – with planning led by experienced developer Galileo Empower.“