Wiltshire Council 'strongly opposes' Lime Down Solar Park
The authority's putting forward its reply to a statutory consultation
Wiltshire Council say they're 'strongly opposed' to plans for the Lime Down Solar Park in the north of the county.
The project's been designated as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP), and so will be decided by the Secretary of State, rather than the local authority.
The Council's a statutory consultee, with a formal response being proposed during a meeting this week (Tuesday 4th March).
The consultation ends on March 19th.
Wiltshire Council say they've noted some environmental and economic benefits, but has concerns about environmental damage and the impact on communities.
They're also asking for extra information from the developers in a number of areas, and calls for a further consultation to take place.
The Council say they'll 'robustly oppose' the scheme, based on a range of planning concerns.
Cllr Richard Clewer, Leader of Wiltshire Council, said: “Lime Down Solar Park is a vast development of 11 square miles that, if approved, would have a huge effect on a significant part of the county for decades.
“We are not opposed to the principle of the development of solar farms, but we are increasingly concerned at the concentration of solar farms and their associated infrastructure in Wiltshire and at the potential industrialisation of the countryside.
“We will be submitting a formal response to the current Lime Down Solar Park consultation that strongly rejects the proposals for a whole host of planning reasons. Our response also outlines the technical concerns we have about the application and recommends proposed changes.
“The application is also lacking many details – particularly in terms of the cabling, plus ecological and biodiversity impacts – and so it is very difficult for us to establish the full impact of the proposals, as we will need all the details before we can form a complete view on how it will affect the county. It’s for this reason that we’re requesting a further consultation once this additional detail is known.
“Following the discussion at yesterday’s Cabinet meeting, we have agreed to strongly oppose the Lime Down Solar Park development, based on the information presented by the developer in its consultation.
“One of the main planning reasons for opposition is that the site contains 30% of best and most versatile agricultural land, which we would lose if it were to go ahead. This goes against Core Policy 42 of Wiltshire Core Strategy and Core Policy 86 of the new Wiltshire Local Plan, and it is important that we do not lose vital land for food production.
“Another key reason for opposition is the cumulative impact. The proposals go far beyond a reasonable test for cumulative impact because of the loss of farmland, along with the fact that the site is next to the Cotswolds National Landscape and views out from the landscape would be impacted, affecting both local residents and the protected landscape.
“We have several other concerns about this application around noise and the effect on the community, biodiversity, flooding and highways, along with other significant planning reasons to oppose the application, and we will submit these as part of our robust response to the consultation.
“In its current form, this development is deeply flawed, which is why we have agreed to comprehensively oppose it in our official consultation response.”