BBC Gardeners’ World HQ could be forced to SHUT DOWN after 40 years on air if huge 67-acre solar farm is built
THE future of BBC Gardeners' World set could be at risk after plans for a 67-acre solar farm were put forward.
Barnsdale Gardens was created 40 years ago by Geoff Hamilton, who presented the wholesome show between 1983 and 1996.
The landscape became the largest collection of individually designed gardens in Britain and has been the backdrop for the show since 1985.
Geoff joined the Gardeners' World team in 1979 and, after he found the original site limiting, he decided to look for a new location.
In 1983, Barnsdale was discovered just one mile down the road, and two years later it became Gardeners' World's new home.
After Geoff's death in 1996, the gardens were taken over by his son Nick, who has been running it for the last 29 years.
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According to the Barnsdale Gardens website, "the spirit of Geoff lives on today" at the beauty spot.
But Nick has now revealed that he will be forced to close the gardens if the solar power plant by Econergy is built next door.
He said that the noise from the farm's machinery would ruin the gardens for visitors and local wildlife.
There are also plans to install 160,000 solar panels on farmland between Barnsdale Gardens and Rutland Wildlife Sanctuary.
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The gardens are one of the biggest tourist attractions in Rutland, but Nick believes the plans will "kill the business".
He said: "Rather than have lovely views of crops and sky we will have panels.
"It will no longer be a rural environment.
"The panels are motorised to move with the sun and the noise will mean people having to raise their voices to talk to one another, never mind the fact it will eliminate birdsong."
He said that people looking for peace and quiet in the gardens will feel like they are on an "industrial estate".
Chris Lawton, who has run the sanctuary for 25 years, has shared his concerns about how the building work will impact the animals.
"The birds of prey at our sanctuary have phenomenal hearing and so the noise from the panels would bother them constantly," he said.
He pointed out that local wildlife, such as deer and ospreys, uses the woodland that will be destroyed during the construction works.
Ollie Smith, who lives next to the proposed site, says he worries that Rutland will become "the battery of England" if it keeps being covered in solar panels.
He said that solar panels should be built on the roofs of carparks, not British farmland.
After a community consultation in 2022, Humphrey Jamieson from Econergy said: "The views of the community have helped shape our proposals, and we have made several changes to the original indicative design in response to the feedback we received and additional environmental assessments."
The changes include adding bat and bird boxes, adding a no-development buffer around parts of the site and a payment by the developer of about £1million for community-led improvements.
Rutland County Council will be paid around £150,000 a year by Econergy.
If the plans are approved it should take around seven weeks to build the development.
A decision will be made at Rutland County Council planning committee after February 25.
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Nick and Chris have launched a petition in a bid to stop the development.
The Sun has contacted Econergy, Barnsdale Gardens and Rutland County Council for comment.
