A council is asking for an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) to be carried out on plans for a vast solar farm near the Norfolk-Suffolk border.
East Suffolk Council has required the EIA for developer RES' plans to develop the solar farm on land sitting at least partially, if not wholly, within the setting of the Broads National Park.
An EIA aims to look into the effects of a project or development proposal on the environment.
READ MORE: Massive solar farm would 'change part of Suffolk forever'
The plans for the farm on a 100-hectare site have sparked concerns over the loss of vital agricultural land, prompting recent moves by the government to reduce the amount of farmland which can be covered with panels.
An action group, Stop Shipmeadow Solar Farm, has been set up to fight the proposals, which states on its website that while renewable energy has a 'vital role' to play in reducing carbon emissions, food security was also 'critical' along with preserving the countryside.
READ MORE: Final bid to stop plans for Suffolk solar farm near Ipswich
The site in the Waveney Valley is two kilometres west of Beccles and near the villages of Barsham, Shipmeadow and Ilketshall St Andrew.
The scheme is part of wider efforts to reduce the UK's reliance on fossil fuels and increase the use of renewable energy, which have seen several massive solar arrays built in the region.
However, the growth of such sites has raised concerns the new Suffolk project would be split into two separate arrays on land south of the B1062.
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In a scoping report for the EIA, consultancy Neo Environmental said: "Significant environmental effects relating to landscape and visual impacts can therefore not be ruled out.
"Linked to this, the extent of the impact on the amenity of the Public Rights of Way network should be appropriately assessed and cannot at this stage be ruled as 'not significant'.
"Significant effects on natural resources in terms of the extent of loss of the best and
most versatile agricultural land cannot be ruled out at this stage."
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