DEVELOPERS planning a solar farm of unprecedented size which could power all the homes in Oxfordshire said they are ‘listening to concerns’ from objectors.

Photovolt Development Partners (PVDP) has planned the West Botley Solar Farm state it could deliver 840MW of green energy to the National Grid, which would be enough to power 330,000 homes across the county.

However, objectors believe the ‘sheer size’ of the project, which would be similar to the size of Heathrow Airport, is a ‘massive concern’.

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The parts of the huge solar farm would be installed near Botley, in-between Long Hanborough and Kidlington and near Woodstock.

Former leader of Oxfordshire County Council, Ian Hudspeth, told the BBC: “The various groups across the villages are coming together to raise their objections and see what they can do to raise awareness because they cannot understand the sheer size of it.”

MP for Witney, Robert Courts, added: “I have real great concerns about this. We support the need for renewable energy.

“People are happy to have solar farm to an extent – they can understand it is helpful to communities – but the sheer size of this really causes people such massive concerns.”

Mark Owen-Lloyd, of PVDP, said the company is ‘listening to concerns’ and taking them onboard during the design process.

However, he argued people are not looking at the site in a ‘traditional way’.

He said: “One problem is people are looking at this from above and not from farm gates and over hedges, from the traditional viewpoints.

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“It will be in the existing fields and we’re making sure we’re not on high ground.”

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This story was written by Gee Harland. She joined the team in 2022 as a senior multimedia reporter.

Gee covers Abingdon, Didcot, Wallingford and Wantage.

Get in touch with her by emailing: gee.harland@newsquest.co.uk

Follow her on Twitter @geeharland