FARMERS in Hinton have put forward a proposal to build a solar park in a bid to guarantee the future of their cattle farm by means of renewable energy.


Dennis Higgins, 53 and his elder brother Victor Higgins, 55, are proposing the installation of a 5MW Solar PV Park on their farm land.


The installation would include inverters, CCTV, security fencing, soft landscaping, a new bridlepath, access routes, and all ancillary works on a portion of their Ring ‘O’ Bells 300 acres farm land, at Pucklechurch Road.


The brothers’ mother Heather, 78, and Victor Higgins daughter Dawn, 28, care for the 120 cows in their dairy and beef herd.


Their father Victor, who passed away 11 years ago, took over the farm from his father John Henry and as a family they’ve been working the land around Hinton, Dyrham and Marshfield for more than a century.


The Higgins’ farming dynasty is putting faith in saving the planet and renewable energy in the shape of a solar park that could secure their future.


Dennis Higgins, who runs Ring 'O' Bells farm at Hinton with his family, said: “Milk now costs less than water in some cases in supermarkets, so it’s hard to make a living.


“We’ve dealt with crisis after crisis in cattle farming with Foot and Mouth and BSE making life very hard, but we’re survivors and farmers more than most people understand the meaning of a hard day’s work.


“I started milking the cows when I was 10 and have done it for 43 years, so I am no stranger to hard work. My niece Dawn does the milking with me and a day starts at 5.30am and in the summer we’re often not finished until 8pm.


“We have a beef herd and the plan is to reduce the dairy herd and concentrate on beef and that’s where the solar park can help.


“It will subsidise what we do as well. Lots of farmers need to diversify these days and a solar park could help guarantee the future of our farm into the next generation after we retire.


“We’ve provided milk for millions of people down the years and now we can use around 32 acres of our land to put some electricity back into the National Grid.


“We’ve been warned to expect power cuts this winter due to a need for more electricity in the National Grid, so we want to do our bit to prevent that happening in future.”


The proposed solar park could help power more than 1,250 homes and help reduce the nation’s carbon footprint by 2,150 tons.


Mr Higgins added: “Farming is hard work, but we love it and it’s been good to us. The only people who will see these panels are the motorists passing on the M4 and our land agent says that the motorway is more of a blot on the landscape than a few panels.


“Margins have got a bit tight and farmers need to diversify and we like the way the renewable energy company are thinking about ways to improve the solar park site.


“The tariff is index linked and they have in place a decommissioning bond to ensure the land is returned to its present state.


“When I looked into the green energy opportunities around and felt that a solar park would be brilliant and the Green Energy UK Direct people have been absolutely fantastic.”


Former technology teacher Arthur Bell, 60, a director at Green Energy UK Direct who has worked on the project, said: “We are delighted to have been given the opportunity to help Ring O’ Bells Farm continue making a contribution to the local community.


“Dennis is a real down to earth chap and it’s been a pleasure liaising with him on the scheme that should provide a much needed boost for the National Grid.”
South Gloucestershire received the application on June 16 last yea

r and the proposal is currently pending decision, and is due to be considered at by the development control (East) planning committee on Thursday, February 26.