Plans to build huge solar farm between Bramley and Silchester given green light after appeal u-turn
Controversial plans for a huge solar farm to be built between Bramley and Silchester have been given the green light after the decision to refuse it was reversed at appeal.
The 210-acre solar farm, which would be roughly the size of 140 football pitches and would be capable of powering 17,000 homes, was granted planning permission by the planning inspectorate on February 13.
The plans were met with opposition from local residents, with many believing the solar farm would completely change the character and appearance of the surrounding area and have an adverse effect on nearby Iron Age and Roman heritage sites.
Mike Coppen-Gardner is a Silchester resident and a member of the Bramley Solar Farm Residents Group, a local organisation set up to oppose the solar farm plans.
He said: “It’s all fairly depressing. I don’t want this area to become a solar farm, but this is basically what’s going to happen.”
Mr Coppen-Gardner acknowledged the need for solar farms and the importance of sustainable energy sources, but he was opposed to building such a sizable farm on usable agricultural land and close to a heritage site.
He said: “We’ve got so many industrial brownfield sites; why on earth aren’t we putting solar panels on those?
“It’s a bit like suggesting, ‘why don’t we go and build a 210-acre solar farm on Stonehenge?’”
The only course of action left to potentially reverse the decision would be a judicial review, a type of court proceeding in which a judge reviews the lawfulness of a decision or action made by a public body.
These types of proceedings are complex and expensive, and they look to challenge the way in which a decision has been made, rather than the rights and wrongs of the conclusion reached.
Speaking at a Silchester Parish Council meeting on Monday night (March 6), Basingstoke and Deane borough councillor Nick Robinson (Con, Bramley) alongside his fellow ward councillors Tony Durrant (Ind) and Chris Tomblin (Ind) discussed the validity of the council funding a judicial review.
After having discussions with planning experts on the council, Mr Robinson admitted: “The reasons to get a judicial review are tenuous to say the least.”
He also said that the council believed funding a review would not be a good use of public money.
However, a representative of the Bramley Solar Farm Residents Group present at the meeting confirmed that the organisation would themselves be progressing with funding a review before the deadline of March 27.
The group also requested vocal and financial support from Silchester Parish Council, something the council will discuss at an extraordinary meeting before the end of the month.
