Botley West Solar Farm plans set for new 10-week consultation

A 10-week public consultation is set to start on plans to build a large solar farm in Oxfordshire.

The 1,000 hectare (2,471-acre) facility would cover sites near Botley, Kidlington and Woodstock.

Photovolt Development Partners (PVDP) said its latest community consultation on the Botley West Solar Farm would run for 10 weeks from 30 November.

If approved, PVDP said the site would deliver enough energy to power more than 330,000 homes.

This will be the second round of community consultation events and will include the public being able to see a report on the environmental impact, as well as the developer's updated proposals.

This follows Merton College pulling out of the project in October, removing its Hall Farm site in Begbroke from the plans.

PVDP said that during the community events residents would have opportunities to talk with the project team and submit feedback.

Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) Oxfordshire and the Stop Botley West group said they had "specifically asked" for the consultation to be delayed until January so it did not clash with the Christmas holiday period.

"The environmental information alone is likely to run to hundreds if not thousands of pages," said CPRE Oxfordshire director Helen Marshall.

"We believe that if they were genuinely interested in the views of local people, they would be ensuring that the consultation ran at a more appropriate time.

"However, we will be urging everyone to do their best to review the information within the time available and to make their views known."

A free exhibition called The Forever Fields Project will take place at Worton Hall, near Cassington over the weekend.

The organisers said it would showcase creative works from individuals and communities that wished to express their feelings about the potential loss of fields to solar panels.

PVDP was approached for comment.

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