‘Jobs and food production will be lost’ if Lime Down Solar Park goes ahead, warns council
The 500 megawatt solar park has been deemed a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project.
Jobs in the agricultural and tourism sectors will be lost and around 5,000 tonnes of crops will be taken out of food production if a controversial solar scheme gets the go-ahead, councillors will hear next week.
An extraordinary meeting of Wiltshire Council’s cabinet will be held at County Hall in Trowbridge on Tuesday, January 6 for councillors to sign off the council’s formal response to the Lime Down Solar Park application.
The meeting is taking place just three days before the cut-off date for making representations to the Planning Inspectorate.
Normally, it would be the council determining the planning application.
But the vast 500 megawatt solar park – which would cover an area four miles wide and two miles deep north of the M4 – has been deemed a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project.
The application – by Island Green Power, a subsidiary of former Thames Water owner Macquarie – is currently in the Planning Inspectorate’s examination phase.
The applicant, anyone who is registered to have their say, official bodies, and people whose land is directly affected can comment on the proposed development until January 9.
Following examination, the Planning Inspectorate will make a recommendation to the Secretary of State, Ed Miliband, for determination.
The council first made a representation during Island Green Power’s statutory consultation exercise in March 2025. The then Conservative-led cabinet said it “comprehensively opposed” the application.
In May 2025, control of the council changed hands, with the cabinet led by the Liberal Democrats. In July, the new council reiterated its opposition after voting on a motion put forward by two Lib Dem councillors.
When considering its 150-page response next week, the cabinet will be told that even experienced council planners have struggled to negotiate the thousands of pages of documentation submitted by Island Green Power in support of its application.
“Officers have, at times, found it difficult to navigate the Development Consent Order application documents, due to the volume of material and the amount of repetition and cross-referencing within the application,” say briefing papers.
“This is likely to be a barrier to effective engagement and participation from interested members of the community… which is concerning given the high level of community interest and concern relating to these proposals.”
The briefing paper notes the benefits of the scheme in producing clean energy, but reels off a litany of “significant adverse impacts” around the “wider environmental, economic and community impacts of the proposal,” citing “substantial, long-term harm to landscape character,” ecological and biodiversity concerns, and worries over flood risk.
The council is also concerned about the ability of the area’s narrow roads to cope with HGVs.
The document also notes that while the construction phase will offer a “short-term jobs uplift,” it anticipates “a reduction in tourism spending of £1.76 million per year during construction,” and “the loss of up to 20 agricultural jobs and 50 tourism jobs.”
The briefing also notes that the scheme will result in the loss of 878 hectares of agricultural land, which “equates to approximately 5,000 tonnes of crops annually.”
“In conclusion, Wiltshire Council acknowledges the scheme’s long-term net positive carbon savings and contribution to both local and national energy policy,” says the briefing.
“However, short- and medium-term impacts on Wiltshire’s emissions, landscape, ecology, economy and communities are significant."
“Therefore, at present, the council does not support the proposal as submitted.”
Members of the public who want to make their own representations can do so at https://national-infrastructure-consenting.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/projects/EN010168/register/register-have-your-say
Campaign group Stop Lime Down says people should not be put off by the complexity of the application, but “think about what matters to you and how this will effect you.”