Plans to build solar farm on former landfill site at Beenham

A 30 hectare solar farm is being planned for fields near the Beenham Industrial Estate.

Grundon Waste Management has applied to West Berkshire Council for an environmental impact assessment screening of the proposal ahead of submitting a planning application.

Beenham Parish Council is asking for views on the matter.

The site sits within the North Wessex Downs area of outstanding natural beauty boundary along the A4 Bath Road.

The solar panels would be three meter high are steel frames each containing blue/black panels.

There would also be a range of pre fab housing to house transformer units.

And Grundon says battery storage would be on the south of the site, in the form of several 40 foot shipping containers.

The applicant says the area has historically been used for landfill.

The site was originally worked for sand and gravel extraction between the 1950s and 1990s.

Infilling with commercials and industrial wastes then took place until the early 2000s.

Grundon want to use the land for solar farm use for 25 years, claiming to power up to 2,400 homes, after which the site should be returned to Greenfield site.