Plans for a large solar farm south of the M4 have progressed as Wiltshire Council has signed off multiple ecological conditions relating to its construction.
Leigh Delamere Solar Farm was approved for installation on land between Sevington village and Leigh Delamere motorway services in 2022.
The application was submitted by Eden Renewables and suggested the project would have a 49.9MW generating capacity, as well as deliver “significant social, environmental, and economic benefits” to the local area.
READ MORE: Wiltshire local plan approved for send-off to planning inspector
Last year, Eden Renewables put in plans for another solar farm called Red Barn on the outskirts of Kington St Michael, which was their third proposed development in the county, including the Leigh Delamere and Forest Gate sites.
The Leigh Delamere plan have now progressed with the discharging of four conditions related to the application.
These included the submission and approval of a construction ecological management plan, a landscape and ecology management plan, and a scheme of monitoring focused on the key aspects of the biodiversity management plan.
The final condition that has been signed off is the completion of an access track between the public highway and the site compound.
In other planning news, the construction of thirteen homes for independent older people near Calne has been refused.
SEE ALSO: Wiltshire Council's latest planning decisions and applications
The application was submitted to Wiltshire Council by Mathurst Developments Ltd in April and suggested it would provide “a low impact specialist form of sustainable housing for the active older person”.
It stated: “The site offers potential for the delivery of a high-quality sustainable development of a unique type that is sensitive to the existing landscape setting and respectful of the local identity by creating a low impact and low density development with its own sense of place together with improvements to the biodiversity.”
However, despite support from Hilmarton Parish Council, the planning team found that it was proposed in an “unsustainable location”, due to its distance from “facilities, services and employment opportunities”, as well as public transport options.
According to the case officer report, the development contradicted with a number of Wiltshire Core Strategy Policies and would “result in permanent, irreversible change to the character, appearance and visual amenity of the locality with a significant urbanising effect at the rural edge of the settlement”.
It was classed as a “creation of new dwellings in the open countryside” and failed to provide “adequate provision” for necessary infrastructure.
Finally, Wiltshire Council has received a reserved matters application for 17 homes on land off James Avenue at Regents Park in Calne.
The application notes that the area is made up of “overgrown long grass and dense brambles”, which have remained untouched during the work on the rest of the development.
It reads: “The proposed development aims to create a place that responds to the opportunities and constraints highlighted earlier within this statement and provide a design that makes a positive contribution to the area.
“The proposal is believed to be entirely in keeping with the area drawing on the form and architectural style that reflects the wider residential aesthetic.
“The proposal will provide a distinctive and sustainable development in terms of construction, accommodation, and layout.”
Wiltshire Council is expected to come to a decision by mid-January 2025.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here