• Save Old Malton
• Save Our Countryside
• Save Our Food
Statement
5th September 2025
In February of this year, Matthew Pennycook MP on behalf of the (now former) Secretary of State for Housing, Angela Rayner MP, granted the Harmony Energy solar appeal in Old Malton.
Following this decision, the Landlord and developer informed us they would not honour their offer to pay us compensation.
This left us little choice but to apply to the High Court for permission to challenge the government’s decision. We knew the odds were against us, but we had hoped that the High Court of Justice would recognise the unfairness and injustice of the Ministers decision.
We are deeply saddened to share that the High Court refused our request. This marks the end of our legal challenge against the planning permission.
As a result, we must now accept that the 110 acres of our best arable land – almost half of Eden Farm – will be taken from us.
The Ministers decision to allow the solar scheme is desperately difficult to face and feels deeply unjust but we must accept that we can no longer prevent the inevitable.
The journey we have been on has been a difficult one, but it was the right decision. Our planning arguments were very strong but when you’re battling a system and a government which puts net zero targets above all else, David’s chances of defeating Goliath are very limited!
Together with our team of professionals, we did our very best and our efforts must not be understated.
Our focus now is on securing fair compensation for our losses in accordance with the government’s own Solar Roadmap and to work with our Landlord to protect what remains of our future at Eden Farm.
Our experience highlights the urgent need for the government to review and reform statutory compensation laws in relation to the 1986 Agricultural Holdings Act.
The government claim to accept that farming families like ours deserve fair treatment when losing land to renewable energy projects, yet they have chosen not to uphold that principle in our case.
Thank you for your support.
Rob and Emma Sturdy
The Decision
25th February 2025
The Minister of State for Housing and Planning, Matthew Pennycook MP, on behalf of the Secretary of State, Angela Rayner, allowed the Harmony Energy appeal for Solar and Battery Storage at Eden Farm, Old Malton.
We are shocked and devastated at this ill-judged decision which will cause immeasurable damage to our successful farming business and leave us with a very uncertain and difficult future.
UPDATED 5th April 2024
On the brink of the Easter Bank Holiday weekend, we were informed that Harmony Energy have decided to appeal the Council decision to refuse the solar application at Eden Farm. Although this is not entirely unexpected, it is nevertheless extremely disappointing. It is clear that Harmony Energy and the Fitzwilliam Trust Corporation have known for some time they were going to appeal but both parties only felt it appropriate to inform us as the last moment. It is a great shame that our landlord has not consulted with us since the Committee hearing in October, particularly bearing in mind the threat of an appeal has continued to have on our business, not to mention our well-being.
Our family is devastated by this news which will bring another year of difficulty, but we will deal with this new challenge in the same positive spirit we have dealt with the situation we have been unnecessarily placed in over the past 4 years.
As other more sustainable applications come forward in our region (as they have done so already), we hope that the Planning Inspector will recognise there are many valid planning reasons to uphold the refusal of this application, not least when there are several other willing landowners with more suitable sites.
Thank you for your continued support. If you have any questions, please do get in touch.
Rob and Emma
Rob & Emma Sturdy with Councillor Lindsay Burr
10th October 2023
I am delighted to be able to say the North Yorkshire Planning Committee have overwhelmingly refused permission for solar and battery storage at Eden Farm with 10 votes against 4.
There 4 planning reasons for rejection are:
- Impact on the tenant farmer
- Lack of evidence put forward as to other more suitable sites
- Loss of best and most versatile farmland
- Visual amenity
Our campaign has fought long and hard for this day and it has paid off. The committee were strong on their points, the majority fully understood they must consider the impact on the personal circumstances of the tenant farmer and that the impact on us is exceptional. There was also a real appreciation of our good land management and the importance of retaining good agricultural land.
Thank you
Thank you to everyone for your relentless support and thanks to Councillor Lindsay Burr for her support today. We shall wait to see if Harmony Energy will appeal this decision but for now we will take this result and enjoy it!
Rob and Emma
Farm Victory over Rees Mogg Trust
Tenant farmers have fended off a proposal linked to Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg’s wife to kick them off their land to make way for solar panels.
Rob Sturdy, whose grandfather Guy moved to Eden Farm in Malton, Yorkshire, in 1954, faced the prospect of being forced to leave almost half the land by the trust which ultimately owns it.
The Fitzwilliam Trust Corporation counts Helena Rees-Mogg, the wife of the MP for North East Somerset, as a director.
We are Robert and Emma Sturdy, the third generation of family to farm 280-acres as part of an Agricultural Holdings Act Tenancy at Eden Farm near Old Malton in North Yorkshire.
Currently faced with the prospect of losing almost half our farmland – 130 acres (110 acres of our land and 20 acres of a neighbouring farm) to thousands of glaring solar panels, we are launching this campaign to protect this prime agricultural food producing land, our countryside and our livelihood.
This is why we are so passionate about Eden Farm and the surrounding countryside.
Farms like ours don’t just happen; there have been three generations of blood, sweat and tears gone into making it. It’s not called Eden Farm for anything – so many people cycle and walk in this local area which forms part of the Malton to Pickering cycle route. It is quintessential British countryside and we certainly don’t take living here for granted.
Farming is a long term endeavour. The land has been invested in over the past 3 generations and farmed sustainably for the previous 25 years. It takes a great deal of skill, patience and experience to make a farming business successful.
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