Plans for a 61-acre solar farm in the UK countryside have been pushed through despite major local opposition. The proposed development, which would be the equivalent of 35 football pitches, was approved for an area near Wisborough Green in Billingshurst, West Sussex, last year. Conservative MP Andrew Griffith’s subsequent call for the decision to be reassessed by the Government was rejected this week, despite accumulating over 2,700 signatures on a petition in support of the move.
Mr Griffith, who acts as shadow secretary of state for business and trade, said he was “massively disappointed” that the approval by Liberal Democrat-run Chichester District Council had been upheld by Westminster. “They must not ignore hundreds of residents’ objections to these plans including the parish councils of Loxwood, Kirdford and Ifold and Wisborough Green,” he said.
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Residents warned that the project could pose a danger to local wildlife and blight the region’s picturesque countryside.
They also cautioned of a major impact on local travel during the six-month construction period, during which over 900 HGVs are set to travel up Drungewick Lane a day.
Campaigners told the BBC at a planning meeting in December that the fenced-off development would look like a “prison camp”.
Resident Phil Ingham said: “I’m very disappointed but not surprised. There’s safety issues on the lane, there’s not enough space for two lorries on the lane. This isn’t the right place, there will be 32 tonne trucks coming down a narrow lane.”
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The solar panels, which will be 2.7 metres, spread across six different fields, are scheduled for completion by 2027, with planning documents suggesting they could power up to 6,300 homes each year.
Jonathan Plumb, chief operations officer at Renewable Connections, the firm behind the project, said it had been “carefully developed following several years of environmental studies, assessments and design work”.
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He added: “To ensure the delivery of a well-designed solar farm, appropriate for its surroundings, we also undertook community and stakeholder engagement. The proposed application received a positive recommendation from Chichester District Council officers and no objections from statutory consultees.
“The solar farm has the potential to provide energy for up to 63,000 homes every year and displace approximately 139,000 tonnes of CO2 over its lifetime.”
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