28/05/2026
I continue to scrutinise the proposed large-scale NSIP solar developments planned across Newark and Sherwood very carefully.
One issue I believe has not received anywhere near enough attention is the wider **economic impact on existing industries and supply chains** that depend on productive agricultural land.
A few months ago, I visited the Newark sugar processing plant and was kindly given a tour of the facility. As an NSIP application sits on the edge of my County Council division, I wanted to understand the wider economic picture more fully — particularly after I had already presented evidence to the Planning Inspectorate highlighting concerns that the NSIP application had not included an economic impact assessment relating to this major local employer.
What became very clear during that visit is that this is about far more than simply producing sugar.
The Newark operation depends heavily on sugar beet grown within roughly a **30-mile catchment area** around the processing site. These harvesting and processing periods are referred to as “campaigns” within the industry and form a major part of the local agricultural and industrial calendar.
Much of the land proposed for large-scale solar development sits within that wider agricultural geography.
What many people do not realise is that the sugar beet economy supports far more than refined sugar alone.
Sugar beet processing also produces:
* animal feed,
* bioethanol,
* renewable electricity,
* LimeX soil conditioner,
* aggregate products,
* horticultural inputs,
* commercial topsoil products,
* and specialist co-products such as Betaine used in food production, pharmaceuticals, animal nutrition, and industrial manufacturing.
This supports a much wider ecosystem involving:
* farmers,
* hauliers,
* contractors,
* machinery suppliers,
* engineers,
* seasonal workers,
* processing staff,
* local supply chains,
* and rural businesses across the region.
When very large areas of productive agricultural land are removed from long-term production, the question cannot simply be:
>“Can solar panels fit here?”
The real question is:
> “What industries, jobs, products, and economic resilience are displaced over time?”
Energy infrastructure matters.
But so do food production, industrial resilience, local employment, and long-term land-use planning.
Good planning is not anti-energy.
It is about balance, evidence, and understanding the full system before irreversible decisions are made.
County Councillor James Gamble
Sherwood Forest Division
MSc. Biodiversity Conservation
Mansfield Chad Newark Advertiser Robert Jenrick Richard Tice Reform UK Reform UK Nottinghamshire County Council Reform UK Newark Reform UK Sherwood Forest Farmers Weekly FarmingUK
