| The application for the Botley West Solar Farm proposal has now completed three rounds of public consultation and the Planning Inspectorate expects it to be submitted in about three months’ time on 1 November 2024.
Meanwhile, the new Labour government has hit the ground running with its plans for a huge increase in solar energy and other renewables. This was kick-started by Secretary of State Ed Miliband’s approval of three large solar farms within three days of taking office. One of them, Sunnica Energy Farm in Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, was given the go-ahead despite the Planning Inspectorate’s recommendation to refuse the application.
The UK government’s plans to confront the climate crisis rely on the planning system for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs) like Botley West that is heavily weighted in favour of the developers – so we have a Herculean task ahead of us.
Nevertheless, the Stop Botley West’s campaign and our hundreds of supporters remain strong in the conviction that Botley West is a poorly conceived project that does not belong in the proposed location. We are determined to do everything in our power to protect our precious historic environment, landscape and communities from the enormous harm this development would cause.
We are intent on building the strongest possible case against the development as it currently stands and in stopping or significantly reducing the scale of it. We are gearing up to deliver our case in the most effective way in the forthcoming Examination Stage of the planning process.
We are therefore now at the point where we must engage experienced planning specialists and legal counsel in order to give our communities the best possible chance of a positive outcome. This kind of expert advice and support comes at a significant cost. We are therefore reaching out to our supporters for help in boosting our finances at this critical stage.
If you are one of our many supporters who have already given very generously to help Stop Botley West’s running expenses – thank you, we are extremely grateful for that support.
Now, we are asking if you are in a position to make a donation to help us fund the best possible expert team at this critical time in the campaign.
Donations of any size are very welcome through our website, but if you are in a position to give a significant donation and would like to know more about what this would help us to achieve, please do get in touch by e-mailing our Chair: alex.rogers@stopbotleywest.com
Many thanks for your continued support.
Prof. Alex D Rogers
www.stopbotleywest.com |
