Torbay Council leaders stick to their guns in solar farm row

Councillors keen to get South West Water (SWW) to build a new solar farm in Torbay are sticking to their guns despite efforts to get them to change their minds.

Torbay Council decided a year ago to build the new solar farm at Brokenbury and sell the power to the company, borrowing £2.75 million to do so. But earlier this year the Conservative administration changed tack.

It decided the risks of taking on the project were too high, and that the council didn’t have a good track record in delivering major projects itself.

It had also been unable to agree a price with SWW for the electricity, which would be used to power the sewage treatment plant next door.

Instead, it opted to lease the land, near Churston Ferrers, to the water company and get it to build the solar farm instead. The council would pocket the money from the lease without the risk of taking on the building project.

But opponents said handing the project to the company would mean no benefit for the Churston community and an uncertain future for the Brixham Archers sports club which uses part of the land earmarked for the solar array.

The council’s overview and scrutiny committee decided to ‘call in’ the decision and send it back to the cabinet for another debate.

Now the cabinet has decided to go ahead with its plan to get SWW to take on the task.

“We all want a solar farm at Brokenbury. It’s just how it is delivered,” said the council’s deputy leader Chris Lewis (Con, Preston). “There is very little risk in giving the lease to SWW and the money we would get would be guaranteed.

“We believe that we have taken the right route.”

Cllr Jackie Thomas (Con, Kings Ash) said SWW had ‘stepped forward in a big way’ with an offer to provide a new home for the archery club, but Cllr Swithin Long (Lib Dem, Barton with Watcombe) said there was still no community dividend, and the decision was based on political ideology.

And, he said, he had spoken to people in the Brixham area – hit by a cryptosporidium outbreak exactly a year ago – who were unhappy at the proposal.

“Residents were baffled about what they saw as South West Water being rewarded for failure,” he said.

South Devon’s Liberal Democrat MP Caroline Voaden also voiced her disappointment.

She said: “If Torbay Council had built the farm, then all profits from electricity generated there over the next 20 to 30 years would go directly to the council, helping fund desperately needed service provision across the bay.

“Instead, the council opted to reward a private company that has so badly let down residents and businesses in Brixham.

“Astonishingly, this decision means that South West Water is set to profit from the solar farm with no requirement to offer any financial benefit to the local community.

“If ever there was a decision that rewards a private company for failure, then this is it.