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Cover image - The Chapel Farm solar project, brought forward by Swindon Borough Council. Image: Swindon Borough Council.
I have been working in solar farm development with local authorities for over ten years now and over that time many different themes have developed. Financial incentives have come and gone, government policy has ebbed and flowed and the position of local government has bobbed like a boat on a tide.
Latterly, local authorities have endured a sustained period of austerity, where their budgets have been cut by up to 50%; more recently, local councils have been at the forefront of the Covid-19 pandemic and have been instrumental in dealing with the impact of the crisis at local level.