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The Sunshine Bill – We urgently need your help! January 2025

On January 17th, a Private Members’ Bill goes to Second Reading in Parliament. It’s promoted by Max Wilkinson MP and its title is the ‘New Homes (Solar Generation) Bill’- aka The Sunshine Bill. It aims to make all new homes have solar panels fitted as standard – something that many of us have been calling for, for years.

The government is on a mission to achieve Net Zero by 2035, and that means a huge investment is being made in solar energy sites, almost entirely situated on green fields, productive farmland and cherished landscapes. The targets could be reached by putting solar panels on 250,000 hectares of existing rooftops, mandating them on all newbuilds, and using brownfield public land such as car parks. But of course, the investors go for the cheap option – our precious green fields.

CPRE was created for just such moments as these. 100 years ago it was the spread of motor transport, roads and ribbon development that threatened our countryside and brought CPRE into being. Today it’s the dash for Net Zero.

WE NEED YOUR HELP to ensure enough MPs attend parliament and vote in favour of rooftop solar. We are asking YOU, and everyone you know who cares about the countryside, to write to their MP requesting that they attend the debate on January 17th and ensure the Bill goes through.
It is quick and simple to do, just email your MP directly.

This is what I have written to my MP – because I wanted the threat to Devon and other key farming areas to be properly recognised! Feel free to copy and paste into your email.

 

“As a constituent of yours, I urge you to support Max Wilkinson’s upcoming Private Members Bill on ‘New Homes (Solar Generation)’, on the 17th January. The Bill would ensure all new homes are fitted with solar panels – at last. 

The countryside is under unprecedented threat. There are new proposals in the pipeline to cover 17,000 acres of South-West Norfolk with solar panels – taking the equivalent of more than 50 farms out of production in the nation’s ‘breadbasket’. Already some 30 Devon farms have been lost in this way, in the region that, along with the East of England, provides the lion’s share of the UK’s food.

Yet research from CPRE (The Campaign to Protect Rural England) shows that 60% of the UK’s solar targets could be delivered on rooftops by 2035 and 160% by 2050.  This bill is pivotal for unlocking the power of rooftop solar, setting the UK on the road to achieving its clean power target without the lazy, cheap option of covering our farmland with glass.

I am sure you will commit to supporting the Sunshine Bill on the 17th January.”

I urge you to do this today, it takes minutes. Please also forward this to anyone you know who might want to do the same. This is our moment, and we must not fail! 

Thank you,

Steve Crowther

Chairman, Devon CPRE

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