Government decision on 2,400 acre solar farm delayed

Plans to build one of Europe's largest solar farms have been delayed, after the government asked for more time to consider the proposals.

Developer Photovolt Development Partners (PVDP) wants to build the Botley West Solar Farm across more than 2,000 acres of land to the north and west of Oxford.

The proposal is currently being considered by Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, but his team announced on Wednesday that a decision would not be made until the end of September.

Explaining the delay, Martin McCluskey - minister for energy consumers - said it would "enable" the government to "seek further information" from developers.

"The decision to set the new deadline for this application is without prejudice to the decision on whether to grant or refuse development consent," McCluskey said.

Planning inspectors sent their report on the proposals to Miliband in February - with a decision initially expected to be made by 10 May 2026.

The report's recommendations have not been made public.

Responding to the months-long postponement, Mark Owen Lloyd - from PVDP - said the developers "welcome the opportunity to continue engaging constructively with the government and other stakeholders".

"We remain confident in the strength of our application, which has been developed following extensive consultation and detailed environmental and technical assessment," he said.

He then reiterated that the project would deliver 840MW to the UK power grid and "represents a significant investment in clean, renewable energy infrastructure".

Botley West is a proposed £800m solar farm covering about 1,000 hectares (2,471 acres) across three areas - north of Woodstock, west of Kidlington and west of Botley.

Blenheim Estates owns 90% of the land within the earmarked site, which it will lease to PVDP.

Previously, the developer has said the farm would be able to power the equivalent of 330,000 homes.

The solar panels would remain on site for about 40 years before the fields are returned to agriculture, according to the Blenheim Estate.

The scheme has proved controversial, with those opposed to the plans suggesting it would harm an 11km (7 mile) rural corridor.

Prof Alex Rogers, chair of the Stop Botley West campaign group, said: "We welcome the Secretary of State's decision to seek further information... and to allow sufficient time for consideration by interested parties."

"It became clear during the examination phase that the Planning Inspectorate team was not satisfied with a number of PVDP's responses to requests for further information," he added.

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