Swindon & Wiltshire News
Solar farm gets go-ahead from planners
Renewable energy supplier Good Energy has been given the go-ahead to build a solar farm on its North Wiltshire doorstep.
Wiltshire planners have agreed that the Chippenham-based firm can build a 4.9 megawatt facility – generating enough electricity to power 1,100 homes – on 25 acres at at Rook Wood, between Broad Town and Royal Wootton Bassett.
The site will be shielded with a 3m perimeter hedgerow, while a wildflower meadow will be sown into the solar farm to enhance biodiversity, and the current occupiers of the land – a flock of sheep – will continue to graze on the site.
Planning permission also means a £4,900 per year windfall for the local community, in the shape of a Community Fund.
