Send in your responses to the Secretary of State by 23:59 on 16 July
Send in your responses to the Secretary of State by 23:59 on 16 July
We are in the final stage and now await the decision from Ed Miliband. We do not yet know what recommendation the Examiners made. This will be shared with the SoS decision.
Calum Miller, MP for Bicester and Woodstock and Layla Moran, MP for Oxford West and Abingdon have both sent strongly worded letters this week to Secretary of State (SoS), Ed Miliband’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ).
LAYLA’S LETTER
In her letter of (29 April), Layla writes: “I am concerned by the sheer extent of the gaps in information highlighted by your formal response to the applicant on 14th of April 2026 in relation to the Botley West Solar proposal.”
“Many key issues remain unresolved and key parties are being cut out of the post examination process.”
“Matters that were examined at length during the Planning Inspectorate’s Examination, including alternative site selection, grid connection and deliverability, impact on Blenheim World Heritage Site, landscape and visual effects, ecological mitigation, flood risk, aviation issues, compulsory acquisition [and Residential Visual Amenity Assessments] have had to be revisited as evidence remains disputed or is incomplete.”
“Your requests for further information from Botley West implicitly acknowledge wide ranging concerns. Given the clock is ticking on the 8 week timetable set out in the 26th of March statement, clarity is urgently needed on how this next stage will be conducted. Affected communities need the opportunity to engage so that confidence in the fairness and robustness of the process can be restored.”
Read Layla’s full letter here.
CALUM’S LETTERS
Calum’s earlier letter (26 March) criticised SoS’s delay of decision, arguing that “throughout the examination there were repeated and serious questions about the adequacy of the applicant’s work.” and asking “why was the application not refused and the developer invited to return with a more robust and properly evidenced scheme?”
His concerns were proved entirely justified in light of the unprecedented number of issues raised in SoS’s letter (14 April) and its highly unusual call for a complete redesign at the decision stage after such a thorough examination.
In Calum’s second letter (30 April) he asks why he and Layla have not been included in the list of Interested Parties to whom SoS’s letter of 14 April is addressed. He also asks for their promised but cancelled meeting with Michael Shanks (Minister in DESNZ dept) to be reinstated.
Read Calum’s 1st letter here and 2nd letter here.
PLEASE ACT NOW
Write to your MP expressing your support and concerns.
This can be a very brief message of support or a longer letter detailing your concerns. A large number of letters will provide evidence of the widespread concerns for our MPs to take to their meeting - if that happens - or for their future representations on our behalf.
The key questions are:
Please send your letters to:
Calum Miller: calum.miller.mp@parliament.uk
Layla Moran: layla.moran.mp@parliament.uk
On 14 April 2026 Secrtary of State (SoS) Ed Miliband’s Department for Energy and Net Zero (DESNZ) published their promised request for “further information” from the Applicant regarding their proposals for Botley West Solar Farm (BWSF).
This letter contains an unprecedented number of over 70 questions asking not just for minor clarifications but for a wholesale reassessment and redesign of the proposal.
Read the summary of topics below and the whole letter here
The Applicant and named interested parties have until 9 June 2026 to submit their answers. Shortly afterwards those answers will be published and there will be an opportunity for everyone else to respond to those answers.
We are advised that, other than those named in the letter, Interested Parties should NOT respond to the questions but WAIT until they have seen the answers.
NB This is a change from the earlier advice published here and in Parish Magazines before clarification from the Inspectorate was received.
While waiting for the answers you may like to read some of the wide ranging questions in the SoS’s letter on the following topics:
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