A vote on Sunday saw Swiss voters reject plans to fund and accelerate large solar power projects on mountainsides. Voters in a southern Swiss region have rejected plans to allow large solar farms to be constructed in the Alps.

The proposal was part of the federal government?s push to develop renewable energy sources. The referendum, held in the Valais canton on Sunday 10 September, centred on economic and environmental interests at a time of high and rising concerns about climate change.

The vote was a noteworthy test of public opinion. It also made for some unusual political allies, with some environmental groups aligning with Switzerland's conservative populist party on certain points.

They had said solar parks would be an industrial eyesore on pristine Swiss mountains. They argued that outfitting more buildings and homes in towns and cities - closer to where the energy would be used - is preferable.

“Through its giant dams, Valais has already given a large share of its electricity to the country,” the local chapter of the Swiss People's Party said on its website. “Adding another environmental degradation to this first one is unacceptable.”

“Ransacking our Alps for the benefit of greedy foreign operators and their no-less-greedy local affiliates can only be an evil enterprise and be to our detriment,” it added. The Valais Green Party and environmental organisation Pro Natura - who jointly launched the referendum - also argued that the plans didn't properly take the impact on nature and wildlife into account. On calling the referendum in February, Pro Natura said that it "considers that a solar offensive is necessary, but not to the detriment of wild Alpine spaces." It urged projects to focus on "largely underexploited" existing infrastructure such as dam walls, storage lakes, avalanche barriers and roads instead, highlighting Switzerland's high proportion of endangered species.