Thousands of Wirral residents have signed a petition against plans for a 27-hectare industrial solar farm on green belt near Rose Cottage in Thurstaston.
A public consultation on the scheme, which is proposed by Chinese renewables firm Chint Solar, was launched yesterday (Feb 3). The company says that the solar farm is necessary to reduce Britain’s reliance on fossil fuels and hit national carbon emission goals. Over 3600 people have signed a petition to ‘say no to industrial solar farms on Wirral’s green belt’.
In 2024, Wirral Council pledged to not build any more houses on the green belt. While the pledge committed only to not building homes, some locals have claimed that the building of a solar farm would break this promise.
Wirral local Jason Cooper said: “We’ve already had issues with keeping the green belt safe, it was only in 2024 when the council pledged to not allow anyone to build on it and yet here we are once again.”
Chint Solar stated that they will take residents’ opinions into consideration and will be holding a public consultation event at Irby Village Hall on 10th February 2026.
Mr Cooper added: “I personally don’t wish to see this happen… whilst it’s important to reduce carbon emissions, projects like this don’t have an effect on locals whose energy prices are constantly rising whilst overseas companies see record profits.”
