A full planning application for a solar farm on nearly 57 acres of agricultural land within the Oxfordshire Green Belt will be heard at the South Oxfordshire District Council planning committee meeting on Thursday.
The proposal is being brought forward by Renewable Energy Solutions (RES), with Pegasus Group acting as agent, and would be 550 metres to the north of Nuneham Courtenhay.
Proposal details
The scheme would require access from the A4074, which is to its east, as well as the construction of PV solar panels which would range in height from 3 to 3.6 metres.
Other features include a 2.4 metre perimeter deer fence surrounding the panels, transformers, circuit breakers, a SSE control building, a solar plant control building, 11 inverter substations, five watercourse crossings, and an arrangement of pole-mounted CCTV cameras.
The permission sought is only for 40 years, after which the farm would cease operations and all equipment and structures would be removed from the site.
The current estimate for the duration of decommissioning the site after the permission expires is being placed at six months.
Flood risk
Concerns surrounding flood risk have been raised by the South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse District Council drainage team, who are objecting the proposal.
The River Thames is around 400 metres to the west of the proposal site, and despite the site being within a low flood risk area (categorised as Flood Zone 1), two years ago fluvial flooding was observed at western extremities of the site, alongside this, parts of the site are subject to surface water flooding.
Recommendation
The development is being recommended for a temporary 40-year planning permission, subject to conditions.
Overall, the councils committee report finds the development to have positive impacts upon the economy.
Additionally, its: “considerable public benefits” are assessed to outweigh the spatial and visual harm it will have upon the Green Belt land, as the committee report finds that the solar farms contribution to renewable energy generation, and transitioning to net zero, justifies very special circumstances that allow for development upon the land.
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