Sir Mark Prescott joins fight against Sunnica solar farm proposals in Newmarket

Newmarket trainer Sir Mark Prescott has spoken out against the proposed Sunnica solar farm development at headquarters and threw his weight behind local MPs Matt Hancock and Lucy Frazer at the first hearing of the examination process of the scheme held in the town this month.

The 2,500-acre scheme, which would be the biggest in the country if given the go-ahead by the government, would cover an area equivalent to 1,400 football pitches across the Suffolk and East Cambridgeshire border.

The solar farm would border the famous Newmarket gallops and nearly every local and district council have come out against the plans, which first came to light three years ago.

In March, many Newmarket trainers attended a ‘Say No to Sunnica’ march from Mildenhall to the village of Worlington, which is one of the areas that would be impacted.

Say No to Sunnica march on March 20

Prescott said: "Matt Hancock and Lucy Frazer made great cases at the meeting for not having Sunnica, which will border both Railwayland and Waterhall, which is next to the Limekilns.

"I made the point that the land had been used for training racehorses for 250 years. Any grass strip you go over is open for only one day in a year. It's not there by accident, it's there because everybody loved it. Not an acre got ploughed up by the war, the motorway went around it, the railway went under it, and we deserve them to look after it for us.”

Prescott, who was chairman of the Newmarket Heath committee for more than 40 years until relinquishing the role last year, had an anecdote on hand to demonstrate how much it has taken to keep the Heath intact.

He said: “Captain Marriott ran Newmarket Heath for 50 years, including between the wars. I just remember him as a little ginger chap. Evidently he had a marvellous First World War, when legend had it he'd strangled three Germans in a pill box. As a result, he had no difficulty in keeping order among the Newmarket trainers!

"When the Second World War started, he was still in charge and everywhere in East Anglia had to be ploughed up as the Germans were expected to land here. So grass strips in the region had to be either ploughed up or have tank traps put all over them, but Newmarket got a special dispensation.”

“Some time later, an American general was touring round to make sure there was nowhere where the Luftwaffe could land. When he came to Newmarket he came across 2,500 acres of the most manicured grassland you can find and had a fit.

"He couldn't find anyone to speak to initially but happened upon a Heathman having his lunch on the Limekilns. 'Say, farmer,' he said, 'what's going on here, you could land the whole of the Third Reich here'.

"The Heathman replied, 'No, no, no. Captain Marriott would never permit such a thing!'"

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