04/09/2026
šØ THE FARMER LOSES THE LAND. THE LANDOWNER GETS THE SOLAR DEAL.
We keep being told that āfarmers are cashing in from solar.ā
But what if the farmer DOESNāT own the land?
At Eden Farm in Old Malton, a farming family whose connection with the land stretches back to 1954 faces losing around 110 acres ā almost half of its tenanted holding ā to a 40-year solar development.
And this isn't simply campaign rhetoric.
The Planning Inspector found the scheme would cause āirreversible detrimentā to an existing successful agricultural business.
The farmer opposed the development.
The council rejected it.
Yet the Government ultimately approved it.
And North Yorkshire Council's own planning report acknowledged that the longer-term economic benefits would accrue mainly to the landowner, while farming activity and the agricultural economy would suffer.
That destroys one of the easiest arguments used against those of us fighting industrial-scale solar:
āThe farmers want it because they're making a fortune.ā
Sometimes they aren't.
Sometimes the person receiving the solar deal and the person actually farming the land are two completely different people.
And there is another extraordinary dimension to this story.
The corporate freeholder identified by the farming family is Fitzwilliam Trust Corporation Ltd. Companies House records show that Helena Rees-Mogg, wife of Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, is an active director of that company.
That does not prove that Sir Jacob owns the land, negotiated the solar agreement or receives income from it ā and my article makes that distinction very clearly.
But given Sir Jacob's outspoken opposition to Net Zero, it is a corporate connection that deserves scrutiny and an explanation.
This case should make every MP, councillor and member of the public ask a very simple question the next time somebody says:
āFarmers are cashing in from solar.ā
š Which farmer?
The person who owns the land?
Or the person whose family has spent generations actually farming it?
Because when tenant farmers lose their land, Britain doesn't simply lose acreage.
We lose farming businesses, food-producing capacity, family succession and another piece of our countryside.
Please read and share this investigation š
http://hopetosaveourcountryside.com/2026/09/03/the-farmer-loses-the-land-the-landowner-gets-the-solar-deal/
šØ THE FARMER LOSES THE LAND. THE LANDOWNER GETS THE SOLAR DEAL.
We keep being told that āfarmers are cashing in from solar.ā
But what if the farmer DOESNāT own the land?
At Eden Farm in Old Malton, a farming family whose connection with the land stretches back to 1954 faces losing around 110 acres ā almost half of its tenanted holding ā to a 40-year solar development.
And this isn't simply campaign rhetoric.
The Planning Inspector found the scheme would cause āirreversible detrimentā to an existing successful agricultural business.
The farmer opposed the development.
The council rejected it.
Yet the Government ultimately approved it.
And North Yorkshire Council's own planning report acknowledged that the longer-term economic benefits would accrue mainly to the landowner, while farming activity and the agricultural economy would suffer.
That destroys one of the easiest arguments used against those of us fighting industrial-scale solar:
āThe farmers want it because they're making a fortune.ā
Sometimes they aren't.
Sometimes the person receiving the solar deal and the person actually farming the land are two completely different people.
And there is another extraordinary dimension to this story.
The corporate freeholder identified by the farming family is Fitzwilliam Trust Corporation Ltd. Companies House records show that Helena Rees-Mogg, wife of Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, is an active director of that company.
That does not prove that Sir Jacob owns the land, negotiated the solar agreement or receives income from it ā and my article makes that distinction very clearly.
But given Sir Jacob's outspoken opposition to Net Zero, it is a corporate connection that deserves scrutiny and an explanation.
This case should make every MP, councillor and member of the public ask a very simple question the next time somebody says:
āFarmers are cashing in from solar.ā
š Which farmer?
The person who owns the land?
Or the person whose family has spent generations actually farming it?
Because when tenant farmers lose their land, Britain doesn't simply lose acreage.
We lose farming businesses, food-producing capacity, family succession and another piece of our countryside.
Please read and share this investigation š
http://hopetosaveourcountryside.com/2026/09/03/the-farmer-loses-the-land-the-landowner-gets-the-solar-deal/
