Graveney Marshes are eerily beautiful and a haven for rare birds; I’m very worried that plans for a solar power station the size of Faversham would change them forever.

I invited experts on wildlife and the natural environment to visit the site and see the landscape for themselves before submitting their evidence to the planning inspector. 

Representatives from the Environment Agency, Natural England, the RSPB and Kent Wildlife Trust visited the site of the proposed development and heard from local campaigners from the Graveney Rural Environment Action Team.

When you see this wide, open stretch of countryside you really get a sense of how devastating it could be to have it covered with tall, black solar panels. It could also be a terrible missed opportunity, because the Environment Agency did have a plan to allow water back onto the site to manage floods.