Recommendation 45

The Government should review and amend this guidance to: • The Government should reaffirm its commitment to developing solar on developed land, brownfield land, contaminated land and industrial land before agricultural land. The Government should also consider innovative ways to develop solar energy without agricultural land. • Clarify more precisely how applicants and decision-makers should assess land type and agricultural land classification, including the use of BMV agricultural land. 58 • Refer explicitly to food security and explain how decision-makers should take this consideration into account. • Clarify when site surveys are necessary to verify agricultural land classification. • Recognise that BMV agricultural land may not all be clustered in one single area but may instead be located in a patchwork of field parcels, mixed with lower-grade land. (Recommendation, Paragraph 108)