SIR, It is a great pity that the sentiments of the Environment Secretary Liz Truss voiced in the news last week, and indeed the vast majority of the voting public are not shared by MCC's Planning Department who, it seems, are intent on covering the most beautiful parts of Monmouthshire with ugly, unwanted, Solar Farms that not only detract from the tourism and aesthetic value of the landscape but are also pretty useless at generating power in these latitudes. In particular the scheme recently approved on one of the most popular cycle routes into South Wales and the Beacons in Wentwood seems like sheer vandalism. More sensible schemes involve generating power in North Africa and exporting it Northward, or if we really want to persist in using solar panels in a cloudy country with low irradiance levels, at least mounting them on roof tops. Covering the last remaining fractions of flower meadows in Monmouthshire with solar panels is no less madness than felling rainforests to produce biofuels. We have abundant tidal, biomass, and hydro power in Wales all of which are far more suitable than solar to this country.

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