Impact on Norfolk – farming and food security

The facts

Loss of capacity

Land under solar panels cannot produce crops or grazing at meaningful scale.

Food imports rising

The UK already imports around 46% of its food, increasing vulnerability to global shocks.

Long-term leasing

Most solar leases last 40–60 years, effectively removing land from agricultural use for a lifetime.

Cumulative effect

With multiple overlapping projects, even small losses add up to a national food security concern.

Norfolk’s challenge

In a county that grows more than £1.6 billion worth of food each year, these losses have real economic and social consequences.

CPRE Norfolk believes we must prioritise farmland for farming, and direct solar to rooftops, brownfield, and non-agricultural sites instead.

A local example: Great Moulton

In Great Moulton, a proposed BESS (Battery Energy Storage System) and solar scheme would industrialise the surrounding farmland, placing energy infrastructure close to homes and footpaths.

Local residents fear for the loss of open countryside and the safety risks posed by large-scale battery storage in a rural setting.

This page is based on the exhibition board “Impact on Norfolk – Farming & Food Security” from CPRE Norfolk’s Getting Solar OFF the Land Exhibition (2025). 

Sources: 

East Pye Solar Group, 2025 – Case Study, Great Moulton.
DEFRA, 2025 – Agricultural Land Classification Data.
CPRE Norfolk, 2025 – Position Statement on Farmland and Food Security.