Countryside campaigners have warned that swathes of rural southern England face being ruined by “massive industrialisation” if plans for one of the country’s largest solar farms are given the go-ahead.
The approval of plans for a large solar power plant in Oxfordshire has sparked fears of a “tidal wave of solar farms” despoiling rural areas.
There are now proposals for another four huge solar farms covering between 160 to 340 acres each, close to the Chiltern Area Of Outstanding Beauty and the north part the Oxford Green Belt.
One planned for Nuneham Courtenay, near Oxford, would be one of the biggest in England at more than 340 acres, with councillors set to discuss in the coming months whether to give it the go-ahead in the face of mounting opposition from environmental groups.
Enso Green Holdings Limited, a joint venture between Enso Energy and the Green Investment Group, has submitted the plans, which could generate enough power for the equivalent of 13,000 homes each year.
The firm says new grassland habitats would be planted beneath the solar panels, with sheep allowed to graze, and the existing hedgerows and trees on the site would be retained.
Enso Energy said: “We’re determined to use the latest solar technology to make a positive impact on the country and communities we work with.”
The proposed solar farms are part of Britain’s push to reduce its carbon footprint and switch to renewable energy.
But the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE) says the scale and “alien appearance” of the Nuneham Courtenay project and other solar farms are an obtrusive impact on the landscape, representing “an unwelcome and inappropriate industrialisation of the countryside”.
The Oxford Preservation Trust has also objected to the scheme, saying it would be “highly visible” in the landscape surrounding the city.
Currently the largest solar farm in the UK is Shotwick Solar Park, near Deeside, in Cheshire, which is spread over 250 acres.
This would be outstripped by the Nuneham Courtenay proposals, along with separate plans for a 270 acre solar farm on farmland near Thame. There are also plans for a 163 acre one near the village of Stoke Talmage, near Watlington.
The single largest British solar farm is set to be built on the north Kent coast after planning permission was given to the 900 acre scheme last year, despite opposition from an alliance of local residents and some environmental groups.
Richard Harding, of Oxfordshire CPRE, warned: “This area seems to be facing a tidal wave of solar farms – on green field sites and on working agricultural land. They represent an industrialisation of the rural landscape.”
“Up until now they have been comparatively small but in the last year a number of proposals have come forward which are considerably larger – covering between 160 to more than 300 acres, essentially whole farms.”
The CPRE argues that solar farms should be built on brownfield sites and not in open countryside.
Last month, South Oxfordshire District Council’s planning committee gave the go-ahead for the building of a 193 acre solar farm at Harlseford Farm, near Tetsworth, to generate electricity for thousands of homes over the next 40 years.
