An MP is demanding the government responds to what he calls the 'disproportionate threat' to farmland and 'the character of our local areas' posed by a 2,500-acre solar farm. 

Robert Courts, MP for Witney and West Oxfordshire, intends to present a constituents’ petition to parliament after the summer recess "to show the strength of feeling" against the proposed West Botley Solar Farm.

If approved the facility could span three sites - north of Woodstock, west of Kidlington and west of Botley. 

It would impact Tackley, Wootton, Glympton, Bladon, Woodstock, Long Hanborough, Church Hanborough, Rousham, Eynsham and Cassington in West Oxfordshire as well as Cumnor in Oxford.  

Developer Photovolt Development Partners (PVDP) said it would be able to power up to 330,000 homes.

This is Oxfordshire:

But Mr Courts has said he has "grave concerns about the size and scale of these proposals, which appear to represent a disproportionate threat to agricultural land in West Oxfordshire".

He said: "We all accept that if we are to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and achieve our ambitious net-zero targets, significant steps will be required.

"However, this does not mean that the renewables industry can be given carte blanche to develop huge greenfield sites which can have both a negative impact on our countryside and a negative impact on the character of our local areas.

"While we must rightly pursue decarbonisation, as all conservationists know, it would be foolish to do so in a way that is destructive to our natural environment."

Mr Courts' petition steps up the joint campaign against the proposed solar farm which is so large it would be considered as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP).

"It will not automatically stop the proposals, but it has a very strong role in showing how strongly we all feel about this," he said, "because the petition will be presented in the chamber of the House of Commons when the House returns after the summer recess, will be recorded on Hansard and – most importantly - and will require the Government to respond.

"This matters, because it is the Government that will be deciding on this proposal, and so a clear demonstration of feeling at this stage is essential."  

This is Oxfordshire:

The text of 'the petition of the residents of Witney and West Oxfordshire' declares that the solar farm "is detrimental to the local community, notes that its scale and design are incompatible with the current infrastructure of the area; further declares that preservation of farmland for food security, local amenity, rural character and green belt preservation must take precedence when considering solar farm applications."  

The petitioners "request that the House of Commons urge the Government to reject the application when it is presented".

It also asks the House to "immediately update the National Planning Policy Framework to give clearer, stricter guidance on the appropriate location, scale and design of solar farms including the definition to be used when sites are declared to be 'temporary'."

It adds that this updated guidance "give weight to factors such as the preservation of farmland for food security, local amenity, overall scale and impact upon the local community, rural character and green belt preservation". 

Photovolt Development Partners (PVDP) has now submitted a Scoping Request to the Planning Inspectorate as part of the pre-application process.

This is Oxfordshire: WBSF banner in Bladon

A second round of public consultation on the detail of the proposals is unlikely to start before September 2023.

PVDP has said it expected to submit a Development Consent Order by the winter.

If it gets the go-ahead from the Secretary of State, building is expected to start in the summer of 2025.

Following a consultation last year, developer Photovolt Development Partners (PVDP) said it was "listening to concerns".