Dent Fell Today — Your Hill Tomorrow: The Dangerous Precedent We Can’t Ignore
When people think of the Lake District, they imagine craggy peaks, mirror-like lakes, and timeless landscapes protected for future generations. But just beyond the boundary of the National Park, hills like Dent Fell remain vulnerable — beautiful, loved, but unshielded.
And that’s exactly what makes the current threat so alarming.
A proposal to build a large-scale solar power plant on Dent Fell is currently in development. If it goes ahead, it won’t just impact one hill — it could set a damaging precedent for hills and open land all across Cumbria and beyond.
Dent Fell: The Thin End of the Wedge
Dent Fell isn’t in the Lake District National Park — it sits just outside it. But to the people who live near it, walk it, or grew up climbing it, it’s every bit as special.
The danger lies in this very distinction: if developers can justify placing industrial infrastructure here, what’s stopping them from targeting every other scenic hill not protected by park status?
Once Dent Fell is sacrificed, a clear message is sent:
"Open, rural land with no official designation is fair game."
A Patchwork of Beauty, Not Just National Parks
The notion that only nationally protected parks are worth saving is both outdated and dangerous. Cumbria’s beauty doesn’t end at the Park boundary lines. Hills like Dent Fell, Beacon Hill, Penrith, and Benson Knott, Kendal form a patchwork of cherished wildness — many of them more accessible and meaningful to local communities than the postcard peaks.
If this solar farm is approved:
Developers will be emboldened to target similar unprotected areas
Landscapes once thought safe by obscurity or community value will become vulnerable to industrialisation
It becomes harder to argue against future projects without being accused of hypocrisy
A Slippery Slope for Planning Policy
This proposal is not just about solar panels on one fell — it’s about what gets quietly normalised through planning decisions.
By giving permission to this project, local authorities would open the door to:
Piecemeal erosion of rural character
Conflicts between green energy goals and environmental stewardship
A shift away from prioritising brownfield sites and toward cheap, visible land
This isn’t what net-zero should look like.
We should be tackling the climate crisis without destroying the very landscapes we’re trying to protect for future generations.
What Should Happen Instead?
We’re not against solar power. We’re against poor planning.
There are better, smarter alternatives to damaging wild and scenic spaces:
Rooftop solar on commercial and industrial buildings
Brownfield and disused land
Small-scale, community-led solar projects integrated into existing infrastructure
We don’t need to choose between green energy and green landscapes — but we do need to make the right choices now.
Stand Up for Dent Fell — and Every Hill Like It
Dent Fell may not have a national designation, but it has local value, ecological richness, and cultural significance. If it’s lost to industrial development, it won’t be the last.
If you care about the wild places beyond the guidebooks and glossy tourist trails, this is the moment to act.
We’re not just fighting for Dent Fell. We’re fighting for every hill, every valley, every quiet corner of rural Britain that could be next.
Our Landscape, Our Legacy.
Help us Save Dent Fell.
