Blackthorn Solar Farm 

Planning application

The planning application has been submitted to Wiltshire Council and can be viewed on its planning portal via this link, reference number PL/2025/03889, where you can also provide your comments to the council.

SITE LOCATION

The proposed Blackthorn solar farm is located in Wiltshire, next to Boscombe Down Airfield and north of Porton. Please see site location map to the right. Click on the map to enlarge it.

PUBLIC CONSULTATION

Phase 2: Drop-in event

We held a drop-in event at Idmiston Parish Memorial Hall on Wednesday 7th May, to meet the project team, find out more about the planning application and changes we have made following the first consultation.

Phase 1: Webinar

We held an online consultation and webinar on 18th March 2025 at 6.00 pm to get initial feedback on the proposals. Following this, the solar panel area has been reduced and the three southernmost fields were removed from the project design.

KEY FACTS

• Site identified as viable for solar in Wiltshire Council’s 2023 Renewable Energy Study

• Installed capacity: 40 MWac

• Electricity generated equivalent to the consumption of approximately 14,200 average homes

• Approximately 12,900 tonnes CO2 saved each year

• Battery Energy Storage System so energy can be used when it is needed most

• Bifacial, fixed solar panels to maximise energy generation

• Grid connection secured at Amesbury Bulk Supply Point

• Access from the north via Winterslow Road and Porton Road

• Construction expected to take c7.5 months

• Construction Traffic Management Plan will be implemented to minimise disruption

• Time-limited development – at the end of the project’s 40-year life all infrastructure will be removed and the land restored

• Maximum solar panel height of 2.5m for minimal visual impact and to allow sheep grazing

LAND USE, LANDSCAPE & NATURE

Please see site layout plan below.

• Continued agricultural use with sheep grazing 

• Agricultural Land Classification shows that the site is all undifferentiated Grade 3.

• An appropriate native grass and wildflower mix sown around the panels to improve biodiversity

• Existing hedgerows and topography provide effective screening

• New hedgerows and trees will be added for more screening and biodiversity

• Biodiversity Net Gain: Habitats - 42%; Hedgerows - 60%

• Total site area 199 acres / 81 hectares

• Proximity to radar at MOD Boscombe Down Aerodrome means that not all the site can be used for solar

community benefits

Community Benefit Fund managed locally of £20,000 per year, index-linked, for the project lifetime.

• Separate Education Fund £3,000 a year, index-linked, to fund educational sessions and site visits to the solar farm with local schools. Read more.

• The project is expected to generate over £920,000 total in local benefits for the 40-year lifetime of the solar farm.

WHY SOLAR?

Solar is a cornerstone of the UK’s drive for energy security and lower energy bills. By harnessing a free and abundant local energy source, utility-scale solar farms reduce our reliance on imported fossil fuels, mitigating the risks of global price volatility and supply chain disruptions particularly from hostile regimes.

Large-scale solar is now the cheapest form of new electricity generation in the UK, along with wind power.

Generating energy from fossil fuels is the biggest contributor to climate change, both globally and in the UK. The UK Government’s Clean Power 2030 Action Plan sets out a target to fully decarbonise our energy supplies by 2030, and while we are making good progress - during 2024 over half of UK electricity generation was zero carbon - there is still much work to do.

WHY HERE?

• Eden Renewables has secured a local connection to the electricity grid

• The landscape is suitable for a solar farm as the topography and existing vegetation will help screen the project

• The site is not within a national landscape designation such as Green Belt, National Landscape or Sites of Special Scientific Interest

• There are good levels of solar irradiation (sunlight) in this part of the country.

TECHNICAL REPORTS

We have been working on a number of detailed technical reports which will be submitted as part of the planning application. They include:

• Detailed Site Layout and Planting Plan

• Planning Design & Access Statement

• Construction Traffic Management Plan

• Desktop Agricultural Land Classification Report

• Access Arrangement Drawings

• Landscape Visual Appraisal / Impact Assessment

• Ecological Assessment

• Arboricultural Report

• Biodiversity Net Gain Strategy and Management Plan

• Flood Risk Assessment

• Heritage Desk-Based Assessment

• Glint & Glare Assessment

• Noise Assessment

• Outline Battery Safety Management Plan