Two recently approved solar farms plus a third still under consideration will cover the equivalent of half a parish of countryside land.
Both Harlesford and Cornwell solar farms were approved in December 2021. They are due to be built around Stoke Talmage Road, in Tetsworth, with the latter lying on the land to the northwest of Stoke Talmage.
The two farms combined will take up an area of 145 hectares and produce enough energy to power 30,000 homes. If the third – a larger development covering 112 hectares, called Dodwell’s Farm - is approved, then nearly 260 hectares of land around Tetsworth will be covered by new solar farms.
A spokesperson for Tetsworth Parish Council said: “Tetsworth Parish’s area is 474 hectares; the cumulative effect of all three solar farms would be to cover the equivalent of half a parish with solar panels.”
Helen Marshall, Director at CPRE Oxfordshire, said: “We are really concerned about the cumulative impact – applications for new solar farms tend to be clustered around power lines and, in places such as Tetsworth, these clusters are in danger of swamping rural villages.
“Renewable energy is essential, but at the moment, it is yet again the developers that are calling all the shots, not local communities. In our view, solar panels would be better directed to commercial roofs, new housing developments and brownfield sites.”
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