article_snippet: Without the huge subsidies added to consumers’ bills, the solar panel business would not be profitable.
article_snippet: An internal report by the local Teignbridge Council’s heritage and landscape officer, Olwen Maidment, described the solar panel development as ‘not sympathetic to the character of the locality’, warning that it would ‘detract from it scenic quality’.
article_snippet: The Mail on Sunday asked John Constable, director of the Renewable Energy Foundation, a specialist think-tank, to compute the sums, given the panels’ supposed output of 6.5 megawatts.
article_snippet: John Constable, director of the Renewable Energy Foundation, a specialist think-tank said:
article_snippet: Moreover, this large industrial project was completely at odds with the landscape, and ‘the panels will stand out from the surrounding green fields and be a focal point in views… given the high scenic quality of the valley and sensitivity of the viewpoints along public footpaths and access land, the adverse effect on these views is considered significant.
article_snippet: ’ Climate historian Tony Brown, who lives nearby, said: ‘
article_snippet: In October, Environment Secretary Liz Truss told this newspaper that large solar farms were ‘ugly, a blight on the countryside’.