Botley West solar farm brings 'positive and negative' impacts

A council's views on plans to build one of Europe's largest solar farms have been drafted ahead of being submitted to the government's Planning Inspectorate.

West Oxfordshire District Council's submission regarding the Botley West Solar Farm proposal was discussed by the authority's Development Control Committee at a meeting on Monday.

The document sites the scale of the project as creating a "potential for significant and widespread positive and negative impacts".

Botley West is a proposed £800m solar farm, covering about 1,000 hectares (2,471 acres) of Oxfordshire countryside.

The project is considered a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project, meaning the application must be considered by the government, not local councils.

As part of the planning process, relevant parties, including the local authorities in which the development sits, can submit their response to the plans.

Ahead of the committee meeting, Andy Graham, leader of West Oxfordshire District Council, said the authority would submit a "well-considered, evidence-based response".

"By taking this approach, we can make a properly informed and impactful submission that will carry more weight," he said.

Mr Graham added the council had "worked closely with local communities" in forming its response.

The authority's drafted submission predominantly discusses the environmental impact of the proposed solar farm.

It questions the use of greenbelt land around Oxford, adding the development would "result in a fundamental change to the landscape character" in an area that is currently "attractive rural countryside".

Photovolt Development Partners (PVDP) submitted its plan for the site to the Planning Inspectorate in November.

PVDP has said, if approved, the facility would generate 840MW of renewable energy to the National Grid - enough to power the equivalent of 330,000 homes.

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