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Motorists, cyclists and residents should expect disruption while a new underground cable is laid.
Traffic management is required for highway works to install an underground high-voltage cable beneath part of Watlington Road in Cowley.
Cables will connect the consented Burcot Solar Farm in south Oxfordshire to the Cowley substation.
About 400 metres of an overall 8.4km connection route falls within Oxford City Council’s area.
Solar panels (Image: Pixabay)
Oxford City Council planning officers granted the scheme planning permission last month, subject to construction, ecological and flood-risk safeguards.
South Oxfordshire planners gave the green light at the end of July.
Meanwhile, Oxfordshire County Council did not object to the scheme, saying it expects no long-term impact on road capacity, road safety, the cycle route or public rights of way once the route has been reinstated.
“However, any work carried out on the highway will require the appropriate licenses and necessary traffic management measures,” the authority said in a report.
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It is not yet known when the scheme will begin.
The works could involve trenching within or close to the Watlington Road corridor, temporary fencing, construction plant and working areas.
These effects are described as short-term and reversible.
The route is a recognised cycle route, so temporary arrangements may also affect cycling provision while work is under way.
The council’s conclusion is that there will be no lasting impact on the highway, cycleway or rights of way.
Burcot Solar Farm is a consented 49.9MW solar-and-battery scheme on farmland at Burcot, near Berinsfield and Clifton Hampden.
It won permission on appeal in March 2025 after South Oxfordshire District Council had originally refused it.
The appeal site comprises three fields totalling 56.7 hectares; the developer describes the wider project area as about 140 acres.
Its capacity also means it is just below the 50MW threshold at which a solar farm project would normally enter the nationally significant infrastructure regime, which would require approval from the secretary of state.
The Planning Inspectorate decision estimates output equivalent to the annual electricity use of about 13,000 family homes, although it could be as many as 18,000 homes.
Ethical Power, the firm previously behind the project before it was sold to the Chinese, previously said it is aiming for this winter to be the connection period.
There would be no new substation, cabinet or permanent above-ground energy infrastructure within Oxford.
Once the cable is installed, ground, verges and hard surfaces would be reinstated, with only standard utility markers remaining
Burcot would be far smaller than Botley West: roughly one 25th of the overall land area and about one 17th of the electricity-generating capacity.
Botley West is waiting a secretary of state decision, with the decision deadline extended to September 10.
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