Lime Down solar plans attract record number of objections
Nearly 5,000 people have objected to the building of a massive solar farm between the M4 and Malmesbury
Nearly 5,000 people have objected to the building of a massive solar farm between the M4 and Malmesbury – breaking records.
The 4,958 submissions to the Planning Inspectorate about Lime Down Solar Park far outnumbers the previous record number of comments for a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project – 1,400 for the Northern Runway at Gatwick Airport.
And analysis conducted by the protest group Stop Lime Down suggests 99 per cent of the submissions to the Planning Inspectorate were against the application.
The proposal for Lime Down Solar Park covers approximately 1,237 hectares of land between Malmesbury and the M4 and includes solar arrays, battery storage facilities, and a 22km cable route corridor through the county to Melksham.
If approved, the scheme would operate for 60 years, with an export capacity of up to 500 megawatts – enough electricity to power 115,000 homes annually.
As a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project, the planning application will not be determined by Wiltshire Council.
Instead, the Planning Inspectorate will listen to the arguments for and against the development before making a recommendation to the secretary of state for energy, Ed Miliband, who will make the final decision.
So many people tried to log on to the website of the Planning Inspectorate on deadline day for submissions that users had trouble accessing the website.
Stop Lime Down spokesperson Sir Mike Pitt said: “This is not a case of a few disgruntled neighbours. Nearly 5,000 objections represent thousands of homes, businesses, farms and communities.
“That level of opposition is unprecedented and should give serious pause for thought.
“When a project faces overwhelming local opposition, unresolved statutory objections, missing information, and growing uncertainty over its economic and policy foundations, the public is entitled to ask whether the NSIP process is doing what it was designed to do.”
Objections raised to the scheme include:
- Loss of productive agricultural land and food security
- Scale of industrialisation and proximity to Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
- Damage to grassland, hedgerows, ecology and declining insect populations
- Flood risk, groundwater contamination, and watercourse impacts
- Industrialisation of a sensitive rural landscape and heritage harm
- Construction traffic on unsuitable narrow rural roads
- Loss of public rights of way and the mental health benefits of access to the countryside
- Noise, light pollution and long-term community disruption
- Property value impacts and harm to local businesses and tourism
A final decision is expected in late 2026 or early 2027 following the examination process, which is expected to take six months.