200-acre North Hampshire solar farm met with backlash by locals

Bramley Frith Solar Farm could power 17,000 homes

PLANS to build a huge solar farm in North Hampshire, capable of powering 17,000 homes, are facing opposition from local residents.

Enso Energy has submitted plans to build the 200-acre farm on land between Silchester and Bramley which, if built, would be the size of 140 football pitches.

According to the energy company, the farm would take 25,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere every year – an equivalent reduction of 8,000 cars on the road – and supply almost 50MW of clean renewable electricity to the National Grid.

The farm, called Bramley Frith, would be built on six agricultural fields on the northeast side of Bramley Substation and would operate initially for 40 years.

To appease concerned local residents, the company has also offered to mount solar panels on the roof of Silchester Primary School and donate £5,000 to the Reading University archaeological department to help fund ongoing investigations into the Silchester Roman remains.

However, the scheme has still been met with resistance from both Silchester and Bramley parish councils, as well as residents.

Although both councils acknowledged the need for more clean, renewable energy, both argued that this site chosen wasn’t the place for it.

Silchester Parish Council said: “The proposed solar ‘park’ will engulf most of the swathe of countryside that provides a green corridor or rural gap between the villages of Bramley and Silchester, consuming a huge area of good-quality, versatile agricultural land. It will destroy the character and visual amenity of the landscape affected.

“The project is a threat to our cultural heritage risking damage to a local Roman site and making it inaccessible for future investigation.”

Similarly, Bramley Parish Council said: “Bramley PC recognise that green outdoor spaces are of prime importance to the mental well-being of people across the country – removing these views of and walks through green open space is not acceptable at this time or indeed at any time.

“The adverse mental health issues resulting from the stress of ‘lockdowns’ and the pandemic in general will last a long time, and to help ease the long-term burden on the NHS and the people it serves, everything must be done to protect those rights to access open space now and in the future.”

Since the application’s submission, it has received more than 450 objections, with just 18 in favour.

A campaign group has also been set up, arguing that the scheme is inappropriate for the site and would potentially provide a route for housing to be built on the site when the solar farm is decommissioned as the site will then be brownfield land.

On the Bramley Solar Farm Residents Group website, the group said: “Of course, given climate challenges facing our planet we certainly need to increase the sustainability of our energy production in Hampshire and across the UK.

“However, this should be done in an appropriate manner – not on agricultural land, over half of which is designated as good quality or better, nor on prime open greenbelt, and not on top of internationally recognised Roman heritage remains.”

For more information on the scheme, head to the borough council’s planning portal and enter the reference 20/03403/FUL.