3,500 new solar panels planned for MOD base
They would help power a new technical training school and accommodation block at MOD Lyneham
More than 3,500 new solar panels could be erected at a military base in north Wiltshire, joining the 269,000 already there.
The Secretary of State for Defence has applied for permission to erect 3,582 solar panels at MOD Lyneham.
The World War II airbase was, for many years, home to the RAF Hercules fleet and was used for the repatriation of British military personnel killed in Iraq and Afghanistan in the 2000s.
It closed as an airbase in 2012, but has been retained by the military as a training base.
The MOD is currently building a new technical training school and associated accommodation block at the base, and says it needs to build the new solar array to power the facility.
The total application site covers 3.6 hectares, with the solar array taking up 2.5 hectares of the site.
At its closest point the site is 50 metres from the village of Bradenstoke, and will be overlooked by a number of residents.
The 3,582 solar panels will be mounted on frames and, at their highest point, will stand 2.6 metres (8.5 feet) from the ground.
The base is already home to 269,000 solar panels, which received planning permission in 2019. These are used to supply the National Grid with electricity.
Anyone wishing to comment to Wiltshire Council on the application has until August 29 to do so, quoting reference PL/2025/06157.
In related news, the MOD has gone back to Wiltshire Council with updated plans for the training facility.
In 2022 the council determined that the MOD did not require its prior approval to construct the building.
But having awarded the construction contracts, the MOD has decided the structure will be taller than the 12 metres permitted – and has gone back to the planning authority for permission to start building.
The facility will be built on the footprint of demolished units to the south of the main cluster of buildings on the site.
The 11,000 square metres of space would include 2,500 sq m for the garaging of vehicles, with the remainder delivering training facilities for operators of “specialist vehicles”.