Botley West Solar Farm 10-week consultation begins

A 10-week public consultation on plans to build a large solar farm in Oxfordshire has begun.

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 from 30 November until 8 February.

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

This is 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 which would be logged and available to trace.

"And we will have to put a response next to your feedback - what we said to you and what we did about it," said project director Mark Owen-Lloyd.

Laura Reineke, from Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) Oxfordshire, said the project would threaten wildlife in the area.

"We would vehemently oppose any planning that would diminish our greenbelt," she said.

Mr Owen-Lloyd said the developer's application was going to argue "that the good Botley West does in removing carbon and supplying renewable energy will compensate for that harm".

"And we are a temporary structure - we'll be gone in 42 years," he said.

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