Two Oxfordshire councils are set to be sued over "dodgy" solar farm valuations in a £50m claim.

Thurrock Council in Essex has threatened to sue 23 other local authorities across the UK in order to recover some of the millions of pounds lost in poor investments.

The Essex outfit went bust after making solar farm investments between 2017 and 2020 which were “disastrous” according to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism.

Both Oxfordshire County Council and South Oxfordshire District Council make the list alongside the likes of Bolsover, Bristol, Derby, Luton and Wolverhampton.

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County Hall in Oxford. (Image: Newsquest)

The Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE) valued the solar farms but Thurrock, in a statement last Thursday, alleged that these valuations had been overvalued and were “negligent”.

APSE strongly denies the allegations and is made up of more than 250 local authorities across the UK meaning its members share liability in the event of any legal action.

Thurrock has chosen a sample to include in its legal claim instead of going after hundreds of UK councils believing those selected to be liable for a £50m share of the losses it suffered.

The council revealed it issued the legal threat after APSE refused to extend the deadline for the council to take legal action, the Bureau of Investigative Journalism said. 

Non-profit organisation APSE valued 32 solar farms at £542m for private company Rockfire Capital in October 2017.

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The evaluations were relating to solar farms (stock photo).The evaluations were relating to solar farms (stock photo). (Image: Pexels)

Rockfire owner Liam Kavanagh, who Thurrock began legal proceedings against in March, then asked in November 2018 for Thurrock to increase its investment.

APSE produced a second valuation, claiming that the sites were now worth £124m more than they had been just a year earlier.

From this, Thurrock made multi-million top-ups in 2019 and 2020, increasing its investment in the farms by 130m.

Investing in 53 sites owned by Kavanagh, Thurrock was caught out as when the sites were sold in January 2024, the approximate losses for the taxpayer were £200m.

Having noticed Oxfordshire County Council and South Oxfordshire District Council on the list, we approached authorities both for comment.

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A spokesperson for Oxfordshire County Council said: "We are aware of Thurrock Council’s actions and so are our lawyers and those of the other 22 councils involved.

“We are currently considering our response.”

A spokesman for South Oxfordshire District Council said: "South Oxfordshire District Council is taking all relevant and necessary legal advice and will not be making any comment at this time."

But this has not been acknowledged by the authority at the time of going to press.

It comes as plans for one of the Europe's biggest solar farms across three Oxfordshire districts have been submitted to the government. 

The 840-MW solar farm is approximately 1,400-hectares (3,459 acres) in size and would cover sites near Botley, Kidlington and Woodstock mostly owned by Blenheim.

Photovolt Development Partners (PVDP) on behalf of SolarFive Ltd Solar sent its proposals to the Planning Inspectorate last week. 

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