Environmental charity Devon CPRE is calling for an end to 'shocking discrimination' against world-class Devon farmland.

The announcement from the CPRE follows Energy Security Secretary Claire Coutinho's announcement to protect the country's best agricultural land for food production, excluding it from use for renewable energy projects like solar farms.

Devon CPRE chairman Steve Crowther criticized the policy for neglecting rural matters and favouring arable land over pastureland, which is crucial for livestock rearing in regions like Devon. 

“Once again, the Westminster bubble demonstrates its dreadful ignorance of rural matters”, said Devon CPRE chairman Steve Crowther. “Once again, they fall back on the mantra of protecting ‘Best and Most Versatile’ (BMV) land, which protects arable areas like the East of England and so funnels solar development onto the world-class pasture-land that covers Devon and other south-western counties”.

Devon CPRE is now urging MPs and election candidates to actively campaign for ‘Prime Pasture’ (grade 3b) land to be added to the ‘Best and Most Versatile’ definition for protecting land from solar development. 

Mr Crowther said: “We are calling on all the Devon MPs and General Election candidates to commit to changing this damaging discrimination against Devon’s farmland, which is among the best and most productive livestock-rearing land in the world. The current classification system is grotesquely skewed towards crop growth. The BMV land that the government is pledging to protect is land graded 1–3a, but grade 3b represents the prime pastureland which covers much of Devon and underpins a huge proportion of our national food security." 

He added: “We have been talking to SW MPs about this for a long time, and many do ‘get it’, however, this latest announcement from Claire Coutinho clearly shows that the message has not got through to Whitehall, and her new commitments make Devon an even more attractive target for solar developers”.

“At a time when we’re being told there’s a good chance of war in the next 10 years, with a rising population to feed and no sign that a plant- or insect-based diet will be sufficient any time soon, we cannot let this go on.”