A TECHNICAL failure has sparked anger and dismay among campaigners trying to stop a massive solar farm in Wiltshire from being built.
The proposal for Lime Down Solar Park covers approximately 1,237 hectares of land between Malmesbury and the M4 and includes solar arrays, battery-storage facilities and a 22-kilometre cable route corridor through the county to Melksham.
If approved, the scheme would operate for 60 years, with an export capacity of up to 500 megawatts.
As a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project, the planning application will not be determined by Wiltshire Council.
Instead, the Planning Inspectorate will listen to the arguments for and against the development before making a recommendation to the Secretary of State for Energy, Ed Miliband, who will make the final decision.
Campaign group Stop Lime Down has been urging local people and organisations to make their views heard ahead of the deadline today (Friday, January 9).
But when people tried to file their submissions today, they received an error message.
A spokesperson for Stop Lime Down told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “We are getting a significant number of messages to say that the Planning Inspectorate website crashes when people try to submit their representation.
“This has happened before, and quite frankly, the Planning Inspectorate’s website should be set up to cope.”
Visitors to the site have been able to go through the registration process.
But when they have submitted their comments, they have received an onscreen message saying: “Sorry, there’s a problem with the service.
“Try again later.
“We have not saved your answers.
“When the service is available, you’ll have to start again.”
The registration deadline has reportedly now been extended to 11.59pm on Monday, January 12.
The Planning Inspectorate has been approached for comment.
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