We're fundraising to engage expert advice as we respond to the Botley West proposal. We aim to regularly update you on our progress and as such, we can report an additional £10,000 has been received meaning we have now reached £60,000! To those who have donated - thank you! You can read more about our plans here.
On 10th October a group of Stop Botley West volunteers joined with CPRE Oxfordshire members to explore the heritage and importance of Dornford Lane in the Parish of Wootton, which is currently under threat from the plans for Botley West Solar Power Station.
ITV Meridian News covered the event and you can watch their report which was broadcast on 10th October below.
General feedback to your Members of Parliament
Those living in the new Bicester & Woodstock constituency:
Please write to your new MP, Calum Miller expressing all your concerns about the BWSF proposals and calling on him to work on our behalf to fight PVDP’s application. Email: calum.miller@oxonlibdems.uk
Those living in the Oxford West & Abingdon constituency:
Please write to your re-elected MP, Layla Moran reminding her of your concerns about BWSF especially in relation to the possible links to Russian money and concern about the individuals behind PVDP and calling on her to work on our behalf to fight PVDP’s application. layla.moran.mp@parliament.uk
Calum Miller, Member of Parliament for Bicester & Woodstock
I continue to support the need for a transition away from energy produced from fossil fuels and I welcome the new government's focus on this. I support the emphasis on planning standards to make rooftop solar standard and welcome the recognition from the Secretary of State that we need a comprehensive approach to land use. We also desperately need investment in the National Grid so that it can accept and support new electricity supply.
Despite this, I share many of the specific concerns expressed to me about the Botley West scheme. I do not support the current proposal and have responded to the targeted consultation, urging the developers to engage more meaningfully with the legitimate concerns of local residents and businesses. I am very disappointed to learn from a number of sources that, despite writing to the developers to express specific concerns or request specific further information, there has been no response. The recent targeted consultation was a good opportunity to demonstrate to local residents and their representatives that they had taken on board the many comments provided in writing and in person as part of the Phase 2 consultation that concluded in February. I am therefore disappointed that the updated proposals make minimal changes to reflect these comments. Where changes are proposed, a number of residents have informed me that there is insufficient detail (for example in the thumbnail maps) for them to comment accurately. They have also said that they feel there was inadequate publicity of this consultation.
I will continue to do all that I can to press the developers to engage more meaningfully with local residents and to take more account of the concerns being raised. I will continue to work with all local MPs and councillors to ensure our voices are heard. I will also seek a meeting with Ed Miliband, the Secretary of State, to ensure that he is fully aware of the local situation that needs to be taken into account should he be asked in future to consider this proposal.
Layla Moran MP, Liberal Democrat
I fully understand the strong feelings of the local community towards the proposed Botley West Solar Farm. Many residents have raised serious questions about the scale of the proposal, its impact on the landscape, and the financial links of the developers.
I firmly believe that we need to address climate change, and that investing in renewable energy plays a vital part in that fight. But we have seen a complete lack of investment or strategy from this government that balances the needs of biodiversity, energy and food production.
I am concerned that in the Botley West Scheme we are seeing a deficit of local democracy and I have raised this directly in Parliament. The Phase 2 consultation has been completely developer-led with the ultimate planning decision being made by central government. My concern is that in by-passing local communities in this way, critical local knowledge will be lost.
Many residents have voiced serious concerns to me about the consultation process, with poorly briefed representatives at consultation events, poor visualisations of how the scheme would look and lack of engagement with villages such as Yarnton.
As to the proposal itself, residents are right to point out that we need renewables, and solar is part of that mix. There exists several key concerns raised by residents. They tell me that:
You may be interested to read the comments submitted by the Vale of White Horse District Council https://www.whitehorsedc.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/02/2024-02-06-Vale-S42-Response.pdf
As it stands, I am not convinced the developers have sufficiently answered constituents’ concerns or made the case that this is the right solution for Oxfordshire.
This is what the construction of Botley West Solar Farm could look like - although this site, Cleve Hill, is less than half the size of Botley West and on much flatter land in the Kent marshes. Both sites provide vital roles in supporting important wildlife habitats that would be inversely impacted by the presence of solar panels
Listen to Anthony Thompson speaking to Witney Radio on Friday’s Community Matters Show
The Botley West proposal and how it will affect YOU
Presentation by Prof. Alex David Rogers, Co-chair of Stop Botley West
This short video shows what Botley West could look like for parts of the middle and south sections of the proposed power station.
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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