PLANS for 416 solar panels at a new community-led energy scheme at a farm near Tisbury have been given the green light by Wiltshire Council.
Permission has been granted for the installation of 416 ground-mounted solar panels and an electrical enclosure at Pythouse Farm on Pythouse Lane in Tisbury.
The development, submitted by Nadder Community Energy Group, will see the panels installed on land to the north of the existing farm buildings, within a field currently used as a foraging area for free-range chickens on the Pythouse Estate. The new array will sit alongside an existing solar installation already operating at the site.
According to planning documents, the scheme will comprise a 262kWp solar photovoltaic system, arranged in 13 banks of panels across seven staggered rows. Electricity generated will be fed into the local grid via an underground cable connected to a small grey electrical enclosure located near the farm’s chicken sheds.
The site lies within the Cranborne Chase National Landscape (formerly Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty), meaning the proposal was subject to careful scrutiny over its potential landscape and visual effects.
However, planning officers concluded that the development would have limited and localised impacts. In their report, officers said the solar array would be well screened by existing woodland, hedgerows and farm buildings, and would not undermine the wider landscape character of the nationally protected area.
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Wiltshire Council’s landscape officer also supported the application, noting that while there are limited views from a nearby lane, additional hedgerow planting along the northern and western boundaries would help enhance local landscape character and improve biodiversity.
The planning permission includes a condition requiring boundary treatment details to be approved before the panels become operational.
The development will also be required to deliver at least a 10 per cent Biodiversity Net Gain, in line with national legislation, with enhancements such as bat and bird boxes to be provided.
Highways officers raised no objection after revised construction traffic arrangements were submitted, confirming that access could be safely managed during installation and that maintenance visits would be limited to around once a year.
West Tisbury Parish Council also voiced its support for the scheme.
Only one objection was received during consultation, with a resident suggesting solar panels should be installed on roofs rather than green fields. However, planning officers said national policy supports renewable energy developments where impacts can be made acceptable, and highlighted that the panels could be removed in the future with the land restored.
Granting permission, Wiltshire Council said the scheme would make a meaningful contribution to renewable energy generation and climate change goals, while allowing the land to continue in agricultural use.
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