Michael Cole has criticised King Charles’s latest environmental project, as the British monarch has set out plans for a new solar farm near his estate in Sandringham.
According to planning permission documents, the King has proposed to install 2,000 solar panels on a plot of land nearby the famous royal residence in Norfolk.
A planning statement says it forms part of the estate’s “ongoing commitment to sustainability and promoting environmental practices”.
Sandringham House previously had a small solar array installed on its roof in 2022.
Michael Cole says the solar panel farm is merely a ‘token’ of the King’s work
GB News / PA
Reacting to the plans, former BBC Royal Correspondent Michael Cole said the plans were simply a “token” and “wouldn’t add up to much”, being as the panels would only supply power to the King’s own residence.
GB News presenter Martin Daubney hailed the King’s environmental work, but argued that building a solar farm is “hardly eco friendly” and “destroys environments”.
Cole agreed with Martin, revealing: “I certainly agree with that. The King has indeed applied for planning permission.
“This mini solar farm will sit on a site of four acres. The Sandringham Estate is 20,000 acres, so four acres isn’t going to be very much.”
King Charles has submitted planning permission to install solar panels at his Sandringham Estate
PA
Cole also claimed that the plot of land which is proposed for the farm is “nowhere near where he lives at Sandringham House”.
Detailing the planned use for the farm, Cole noted that the power generated by the farm is “only going to be used on the Sandringham Estate” and “not exploited for external use”.
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He told GB News: “It’s a token. It speaks to his eco credentials, but it doesn’t add up to much, because the power is only for the Sandringham estate. It’s not going to be exploited and used and exported to the people.”
Martin responded to Cole’s remarks on the farm, asking: “The Sandringham estate will be self-sufficient with its solar panel farm, but will it be a blot on the landscape?”
Cole noted plans for more solar farms in the UK, and how the communities in Suffolk and Cambridge “despise” the “monster farms” being built.
Michael Cole says King Charles’s plan ‘won’t add up to much’
GB News
Cole explained: “Solar farms are hugely controversial. A monster one is being planned on the borders between Suffolk and Cambridge, and the people there really despise it.
“As they say, quite rightly, is this grade A agricultural land being turned over to this semi industrial use, and spoiling the look of the countryside and changing it irrevocably and in a negative way.”
Cole continued: “So we’re under siege – a double row of monster pylons is going to be planned down the spine of Suffolk and Essex to Tilbury. But this is not happening on the north Norfolk coast, where Sandringham House is.
“So if you want to go and live somewhere where there’s not going to be a nuclear power station or a monster solar farm, go and live near the King because it’s not going to happen there.”
