© PA Media Solar farms are operating across the country and are an important part of renewable energy.Solar power is an important part of renewable energy, but some say solar farms should not be built on agricultural land, BBC Politics East reports.
Prime Minister Liz Truss recently suggested that agricultural land used for food production should not be used for solar energy.
But environmentalists have told the BBC that solar farms are needed to cut carbon emissions.
A 200-hectare (81-acre) site at Blois Grove, near Norwich, was approved.
The solar farm on Brick Kiln Lane between Mulberton, Newton Flotman and Swainsthorpe is expected to generate enough energy to power 14,000 homes.
Ann Chandler, from Swinthorpe Diocese Council, said: “The land [at Blues Grove] has been used for farming crops for hundreds of years so we are very concerned and saddened by this.
“This is bad for our future food security. We are told that our food security must be self-sufficient.
In France they put solar panels on parking lots like supermarket parking lots.
"We have to think a little outside the box and not use our virgin land."
The French state-owned company behind the project, EDF Renewables, is building two more solar power plants in the area, with more under construction.
"Farmers get a guaranteed return," said Ben Fawcett, president of the solar company. Knowing that they could have a guaranteed income allowed them to invest, meaning that their other lands would become more productive.
"So I don't think it's necessarily a direct conflict between food security and energy security, and I think the Ukrainian crisis has reminded us of the importance of energy security."
"Productive agricultural lands"
Current government policy regarding solar energy production is unclear.
A five-fold target was announced six months ago, and last month Truss, the Premier and MP for south-west Norfolk, looked set to walk away from solar farms.
"I'm very supportive of solar panels on commercial buildings — I think they're great — and on homes," he said.
"But we shouldn't be using productive agricultural land that can feed solar energy."
Michael Rayner, spokesman for Norfolk rural charity CPRE, said solar farms were a "quick fix" that led to "quick profits" but were not the solution to solar energy.
"A report came out in 2014 that showed there are 250,000 acres of commercial rooftop space in the South where we could go solar, and that doesn't include rooftops or brownfields," he said. he
The land occupied by solar farms is a quarter of the land used for golf courses, said Asher Mines, executive director of the Tyndall Center for Climate Change Research at the University of East Anglia.
"We need solar energy on the ground and ... on the roofs, on the roofs of newly built houses and new businesses," he said.
"There should be proper building requirements: when you build a new building, you have to put solar panels on the roof. In the 21st century, we need clean electricity."
A spokesman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: “Protecting the environment, supporting British farmers and securing long-term energy security with more renewable energy are at the heart of the Government's announcement.
"We will work closely with farmers, landowners and environmental groups to find ways to improve our future agricultural policy to ... support our thriving food and farming sectors."
You can read more about the story on BBC One's Politics East on Sunday 30 October at 10:00 BST, after which it will also be available on BBC iPlayer .
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