Solar panels on car parks
Joint Lib Dem/Labour motion for solar panels on LDC assets passes 20-19
Lib Dem and Labour Councillors showed how cooperation can bring results, even while still opposing each other in a current by-election. Councillors on the hung Lichfield District Council passed a motion to get the Cabinet to urgently investigate the feasibility of solar car parks, despite strong Tory opposition, by 20 votes to 19.
In his speech introducing the motion, Cllr Hugh Ashton (Lib Dem, Stowe) said, “As part of a carbon reduction plan carried out in 2021-2, this idea of PV on car parks was at least partially examined. There were, however, lower-hanging fruit such as LED lighting, insulation, automatic switches and so on, that promised a respectable return on investment, and PV on car parks and other structures took a back seat.
“Three or four years on, the situation has changed. As mentioned earlier, the use of solar panels may become mandatory in some sectors. This will drive down the capital costs associated with such installations. The technology has improved – not just the panels themselves are more efficient, but batteries and so on have come on a long way. There is more appetite for such installations, and as a result more external financial incentives available: UKSPF, SEG, IETF, zero VAT, and so on. And the climate is changing to more extremes of weather, including heatwaves and hours of sunshine. All of these make the development of new large-scale PV installations a much more attractive proposition than it was several years ago.”
Cllr Russ Bragger (Lab, Stowe) seconded the motion, and in his remarks at the end of the debate said, “I understand that this is challenging, but just because it is challenging doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t do it. If we were to put these solar panels on car parks… it’s an investment that would produce revenue for the benefit of the residents.” He added that Lichfield Live had carried the notice of the motion and put it on social media, with the result that in a few hours there were 72 likes and 28 comments, nearly all positive. This, he noted, was in contrast to the usual Facebook reaction to council business. “We are not going against public opinion,” he concluded.
Cllr Andrew Rushton (Lib Dem, Whittington and Streethay), speaking as Shadow Cabinet member for Climate Change, took issue earlier in the debate with some of the financial objections put forward by other councillors. He that the motion explicitly called for investigation of external funding. “I’m a little bit miffed,” he said, “by the idea [put forward by other councillors] that this will all come from Lichfield District Council. But we also do have a budget in place for climate change.”
Following the debate, Ashton commented, “Although of course I am delighted by the fact that the motion passed, I am deeply disappointed that the voting ran so closely along party lines. I am not convinced that every councillor who voted to defeat the motion did so with a clear conscience, and of course, there might even have been a few with doubts who voted for the motion.
“In the debate, the reasons given to oppose the motion varied from the frankly ignorant, through misunderstanding of the wording of the motion, to procedural parliamentary tactics designed to derail the process. It was clear that the majority bloc had decided no matter what the merits of the motion might be, the motion was to be defeated. A few minutes earlier the Council had been discussing collegiality and the benefits of working together. The vote on the motion made a mockery of these words.”
[The YouTube video below shows the debate on the Motion on 8 July 2025 in the Lichfield District Council Chamber. Cllr Ashton is just out of camera at the right of the picture.]