CPRE objects to plan for solar farm in Oxford Green Belt – have your say!
27th July 2015
A plan for a solar farm in Elsfield, South Oxfordshire, five miles from the city centre, is open to the public for consultation.
CPRE has objected to the application on the grounds of harmfulness to the Green Belt, the Oxford Heights character area, and the settings of Oxford and Elsfield, and of the unjustifiable and unnecessary loss of agricultural land (see letter below).
In its consultation response, CPRE said it did not consider that the amount of renewable energy the site might yield goes any distance to outweighing the cumulative harm of the proposed solar farm.
CPRE has therefore requested that the application be refused.
The site is located off the B4027 between the villages of Beckley and Elsfield to the north of Oxford.
In 2012, proposals for a 74 acre solar farm estimated to generate power for 3,000 homes were put forward at the same farm by a different company, ADAS.
The firm dropped the plans for Green Belt land between Beckley and Barton in February 2013 after negative feedback from South Oxfordshire District Council planners.
The new site will have a generation capacity of five Megawatt Peak with panels up to a height of 2.5m.
What can you do?
Respond to the consultation – the deadline is Friday 7 August.
A decision is due to be made on 30 September.
CPRE Oxfordshire, 27 July
CPRE_Oxfordshire_Letter_of_Objection_-_Solar_Farm_at_Elsfield_July_2015.pdf