The High Court has given the green light to a 200-acre solar farm in Hampshire, near the Silchester Roman amphitheatre, one of England’s best-preserved Roman sites.
In a ruling earlier this week, planning judge Mrs Justice Land dismissed objections made by a local residents group and said renewable energy company Esso Energy could go ahead with its plans.
The company plans to put 100,000 solar panels on agricultural land between Bramley and Silchester, near Basingstoke. The council initially refused the application. The company then revised its plans, and the farm was approved by a planning inspector.
The Bramley Solar Farm Residents Group, which is made up of more than 450 locals, has been campaigning against the project since the outset.
It argued that, while it is in favour of solar energy, the proposed farm is too big. It also said solar farms should be put on brownfield sites, not productive agricultural land. It funded a judicial review of the decision, which was heard in court in October.
At the hearing, lawyers for the group argued that the planning inspector erred in law when he decided that the amendments to the plan were minor. If the amendments were not minor, the company should have applied again to the council, rather than appealing to a planning inspector.
However, in her ruling, the judge said the inspector “made a lawful exercise of planning judgment when he found that the modifications were minor.”
In conclusion, she said the planning inspector was entitled to make the decision he made, and he made no error in law.
She dismissed the case.
Bramley Solar Farm Residents Group v Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and others
Planning Court (Lang J), 15 November 2023
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