TOP STORY
- Preliminary meeting announced for 13 May
- Complete surveys by 20 April
- Join the SBW walk on 8 June
LATEST NEWS about the Examination of the BWSF Application. The Examining Authority (ExA) have issued a 40 page “Rule 6 letter” outlining some key dates, deadlines and guidelines.
We have added many of these dates to our Events Calendar
Preliminary Meeting (PA) 10:00am 13th May 2025
Read the full “Rule 6 letter” with guidance on all aspects of the PA here
Register here to attend in person to observe and/or speak by 23:59pm 16th April 2025. It will be held at The Kings Centre, Osney Mead, Oxford OX2 0ES.
Alternatively, you can watch a livestream of the Event using this link which will be made available shortly before the Event is scheduled to begin, or you can watch the recording after the Event has finished.
Join Stop Botley West supporters walking on footpaths impacted by Botley West while other Campaigns against Large Solar walk in their area for a coordinated National Campaign event that may be be covered by BBC and other news media.
A provisional date for your diary - Details to follow - Sunday 8th June
We are now gathering and preparing evidence which will be used to show how this proposal, if built, would affect local residents’ amenity and quality of life. This information will submitted by SBW to the Inspectorate and also to West Oxfordshire District Council to use in their Local Impact Report - an important element at the Examination stage.
Please send in photos or videos showing the proximity of solar panels to your house (if you live close to the boundary) or to any PROW that you use in the area. Please identify the location and email them to feedback@stopbotleywest.com
See below for some good examples of what we are looking for. (Note property in foreground of photos which shows the proximity of fields where panels are planned).
And don't forget to complete our surveys here.
An example video to show the proximity of panels to a Public Right of Way (PROW). Please record your own and send to feedback@stopbotleywest.com
To help you navigate this mammoth collection we have produced a contents list with links to these documents.
Fundraising Update 5th March 2025
It was really wonderful to see so many of you at our recent public information events in Cumnor, Cassington and Long Hanborough and we’d like to thank you for your generosity, both with your time and donations.
We are happy to announce that we have now raised just over £116,000 out of our target £150,000. Your donations are already being well spent on our Planning Consultant and Experts in landscape and heritage and we will soon be able to share Stop Botley West’s Relevant Representation which has been the culmination of much hard work by the team on behalf of SBW.
Please continue to support the campaign if and when you can. If all those due to be affected by Botley West can contribute even a small amount, we can certainly reach our target! Please donate here.
Nowhere in the world has a ground mounted solar farm this vast (bigger than Heathrow) been built so near to human habitation (11,000 homes within 1.5km) and for very good health and safety reasons (learn more).
It would remove thousands of tons of crops each year at a time of growing concern about food security. 250,000 hectares of unused, south-facing commercial roofs in the UK could be used instead (learn more).
There are many better ways to produce green energy. Offshore wind is up to 51% efficient compared with solar panels less than 22% (learn more).
There will be no natural gains for wildlife or the environment. There will be loss of wildlife habitat, increased risk of flooding and 51 miles of 8ft high animal proof security fencing restricting movement (learn more).
Botley West may never pay back the carbon debt it accumulates in the construction, transportation and decommissioning of panels. There is a huge amount of carbon generated in all these operations (learn more).
The current plans show Botley West SF could encroach within 100m of Blenheim Palace boundary wall and threaten its UNESCO World Heritage Site status. Historic sites like Sansom’s Platt in Wootton and Churchill’s grave in Bladon Churchyard would also be overwhelmed (learn more).
75% of the proposed site is on greenbelt land which should be protected. It would industrialise the countryside for 40 years and may never be returned to agricultural use (learn more).
Solar Panels will be highly visible at ground level from roads and footpaths for visitors and residents alike over an 11 by 3 mile area, It cannot be ‘landscaped to only be seen through gaps in the hedges’ as claimed (learn more).
The main financial beneficiaries of this industrialisation of the countryside are overseas developers PVDP (of dubious pedigree) and landowners Blenheim Estate (NOT the Palace itself) (learn more).
The Local Solution
Solar energy should be used specifically to meet local demands and directly benefit local communities, not big landowners and overseas companies.
And there are other imaginative means of providing green energy. These are just four:
The National Solution
As well as a national rollout of these local solutions we have offshore windpower which offers peak electricity in the dark winter months when the UK most needs energy and when solar panels are least efficient. And, of-course, there are other offshore energy sources – wave power, tidal power etc already in use.
Finally, Andrew Tettenborn, Professor of Law at Swansea Law School sums it up in the Spectator: “In the dash for Green Energy “corporate capital is being handed a heaven- sent opportunity at the expense of you, me and the country we live in at least as regards solar power (Government policy) is not working for the benefit of the people ……..
but instead seems to favour a more international clientele.”
All of this means we don’t need old fashioned, large scale, inefficient solar ‘farms’.
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