Controversial solar farm plans submitted

CAMPAIGNERS who want to stop the development of the massive Lime Down Solar Farm are preparing themselves for a planning battle.

- PETER DAVISON [e-mail]

Earlier this week it was reported that Lime Down Solar Park Limited had submitted its planning application to the Planning Inspectorate.

The company, a division of Island Green Power, which is itself a subsidiary of former Thames Water owner Macquar ie Asset Management, wants to build a 500 megawatt solar farm to the north of the M4 near Malmesbury.

The company says it would produce enough renewable energy to power 115,000 homes.

Campaigners against the scheme say an area four miles wide by two miles deep would be covered in solar panels.

Due to the scale of the project it is deemed a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project - and that means the local planning authority, Wiltshire Council, will not be asked to determine the proposal.