Fears local concerns over planned Wiltshire solar park could be ignored
Plans for the Lime Down Solar Park project have been accepted by the Planning Inspectorate
There are fears that the concerns of people in Wiltshire who will be impacted by a proposed 2,200 acre solar farm could be ignored.
The Planning Inspectorate approved the plans submitted to it on Friday (17/10), which will now see a minimum 30-day period will be opened up for people to register interest and make a representation, which is when people can begin making their views known.
Following that, there will be three to six month period where applications are considered and hearings heard, before the final decision is made by the Secretary of State.
The project has been declared a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project, meaning the final decision will be made by Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, Ed Milliband, rather than Wiltshire Council.
Chairman of Luckington and Alderton Parish Council, John Buckley, is troubled by that situation.
Cllr Buckley says the root of English democracy traces back to the Middle Ages, with local people accountable for local decision making.
He said local authorities will make recommendations on a variety of planning issues on a daily basis, with those then passed on to organisations like Wiltshire Council, who will process applications with professional planning teams, before it goes to the Planning Inspectorate.
"This is different. This goes straight into the Planning Inspectorate," said Cllr Buckley. "Wilshire Council is reduced to the status of any other consultee can have an opinion, but it has no control and no determination over it."
He's concerned that the Secretary of State might go against local knowledge and expertise.
"What that does for me is exclude all of the local people from having a voice in their decision, their communities and local responsibility. They want them to live with the consequences of decisions, but they don't allow them to participate."
A massive site, with potentially major impacts
The proposed site, which could stretch across seven-miles of Wiltshire countryside, could see solar panels the size of double decker buses planted along Fosse Way.
John said: "That means you can drive on country lanes in the South Cotswolds for something like 25 minutes and still be inside the site.
"That's a long way, and that's driving along the Fosse Way, which many people will know is a Roman road, 2000 years old, littered with the archaeology treasures that runs through the middle of the site."
He also warned of the potential impact on drinking water to Bath, Wiltshire and beyond.
John says under the ground of the proposed site are the aquifers that provide drinkable water to the towns and villages served by the River Avon all the way down to Bristol.
"If they get this wrong and you cover a field with 2000 acres of panels, it alters how that water enters. Nobody is looking at that because it's outside their boundaries. That to me is a massive omission," he said.