Due to short notice, the Central SBW Group and many other loyal supporters were all either away or already committed elsewhere on the day.  Nevertheless around 25 people were there, most travelling by a bus laid on at the last minute for them.  Armed with placards and banners featuring our now familiar logo they joined supporters from other campaigns including Sunnica (Cambridge), Mallard’s Pass (Lincolnshire) and Lime Down (Wiltshire).Steve Jenkins from Long Hanborough was our spokesperson and he gave interviews to several national newspapers and television. His interview with Miranda Norris of Oxford Times was pre-recorded and appeared on the front page of the Oxford Times on the day of the rally.

Several MPs from other affected constituencies joined protesters in Parliament Square including James Grey, MP for North Wiltshire seen above with Andrew Bowie, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero) who also spoke came over and spoke to campaigners including our SBW group and said he supported them.

He called for more protections to stop large-scale solar farms being built in the countryside.

An article in the Telegraph by Emma Gatten, later that day has the headline:

“Renewable energy minister backs anti-solar protests”

Andrew Bowie tells campaign rally outside Parliament that their concerns are ‘completely legitimate’ and that the Government was actively looking into what they can do to protect valuable farmland from being used for large-scale solar farms.

Further Observations from  SBW supporters there include:

“I was really pleased to see such a variety of folks supporting the cause. Different post codes, age groups and backgrounds focused on a common goal.” and

“I spoke to a Lincoln man and a Sunnica/Cambridgeshire lady.  My feeling was that they feel exactly as we do about the issue.. The Cambridgeshire people were particularly jaded as they have been campaigning for 5 years.“

The rally was a great success for all the campaign groups and many useful connections were made.  It really feels that the momentum against these mega solar projects is growing  We hope that next time there is an event like this, we will be able to give you more notice, and be able to get a really big group showing the strength of feeling among our wonderful SBW supporters,

Huge thanks again  to those who took the SBW message to Westminster!

The main thrust of the arguments against mega solar was the sheer size of the projects, the destruction of productive farmland and the threat to food security.

Watch the whole debate (3hours!) here.  Botley West gets a mention in the first 15 minutes.

67% did not believe they had adequate opportunity to influence what is being proposed

91% are against the proposal as it is.

The full results and SBW’s Adequacy of Consultation report will be published on the website at the same time the developer submits their application for a development consent order (DCO), likely to be July at the earliest.

The coach will leave from Long Hanborough Pavilion at 8am (parking

nearby).

The Campaign against Large-Scale Solar Farms gains momentum.

Please join the SBW Trip to London on Thursday if you can.

It makes very good reading and really shines a spotlight on all that’s wrong with Large-Scale Solar Farms and BWSF in particular!

Read the article here: “We don’t need to glaze over country to get green energy”

It really does seem that campaigns like ours are beginning to be noticed.  Even more important then to join the SBW trip to London on Thursday!

Please email to reserve your place. 

PVDP are part way through the Community Consultation Process for the Botley West Utility-Scale Solar Power Station. We encourage everybody to engage with this process as follows:

1. Attend one of the remaining Community Consultation Events if you can (listed below).  Make yourselves aware of what the proposal contains and how it will affect you and be prepared with questions to ask PVDP’s representatives.
2. Complete the SBW questionnaire about whether the consultation has been adequate and useful for you – whether you’ve attended an event or not. You can do this online here or on paper using the leaflet that came through your door this week (locations of collection boxes to return them are on the leaflet). You can also find a copy of this on the SBW website: https://www.stopbotleywest.com
3. Write to PVDP with your comments and questions about their proposals (as you have learnt from events or PVDP publications) and send copies to your MP and local councillors.

PLEASE DO THIS BY 8th FEBRUARY 2024 when the CONSULTATION ENDS

We remind everybody that PVDP have published the Statement of Community Consultation (SOCC) for the Botley West Utility-Scale Solar Power Station. According to PVDP’s Section 48 Notice consultations will be held at:

We encourage everybody to engage with this process. Make yourselves aware of what the proposal contains and how it will affect you and be prepared with questions for the consultation events. The SOCC can be downloaded on the web page here under Phase Two Consultation Documents

Read the guidance on SBW website on what to look out for, what questions to ask and how to respond – and, of course, to complete the questionnaire you’ll see when you leave a consultation about how adequate the consultation has been for you. Visit here.

Botley West hit the Oxford Mail twice this week on the 23rd November with an article reporting on the disappointment of SBW and CPRE Oxfordshire in the timing of the Public Consultation over Christmas and then an excellent article on the Forever Fields exhibition where citizens affected by the proposed Utility Scale Solar Power Station have used their many talents, whether through photography, painting, prints, poetry or other means of artistic expression to record the current beauty of our local landscape as well as to provide a record of how it looks now so that if the Botley West proposal goes ahead there is record of how the countryside must be restored afterwards. You can read news reports on Forever Fields and see some of the artwork on the SBW

website NEWS page here.

Anthony Thompson, the organiser of Forever Fields also gave an excellent interview on BBC Radio Oxford about the proposed development and the exhibition.

“Introduce new restrictions on solar facilities to protect land and food security”

Please sign this petition here.

It is highly relevant for the Stop Botley West campaign and seeks to prohibit ‘mega solar facilities’ over 50MW on UK farmland; establish solar development preference hierarchies and regional density caps to help protect our natural landscapes, ensure food security, and conserve biodiversity. “Government policy must align net zero aims with food security and regional integrity. Establishing formal priorities for solar development on brownfields, rooftops, and lower-grade land, plus regional solar density caps, could help ensure energy targets are met without compromising rural landscapes or broader security interests.”

The Oxford Local Plan 2040 has now been published in its first draft by Oxford City Council. The plan covers areas such as protecting heritage, house building, net zero carbon policies, biodiversity targets and employment. We note that the headlines to tackling the climate emergency are mainly around net zero building policies. Despite a glossy picture of solar panels over a car parking area, roof-top or brown field solar are not mentioned on the website. There is now an opportunity to comment on substantive issues related to the plans with a deadline of the 5th January. We encourage everyone to read the plan and to respond to the consultation. See here and go to the bottom of the webpage to link through to the consultation.

The PEIR has been published as an electronic version. This is a massive report (7,000 pages in 20 Chapters plus figures and Appendices) that contains details of the Botley West proposal and its impacts. Printed versions are available at libraries and can be obtained at a cost of £500 from PVDP. The document is available to download chapter by chapter here.

For those of you who attended the Forever Fields event at Worton Farms please join me in thanking the organisers, especially Anthony Thompson, Hannah Farncombe, Jean Glendinning and the rest of the FF team and to Worton Farms. The event was a huge outpouring of love for our surrounding landscape in many different forms of art and poetry. A huge thanks to the contributors for such amazing work. All the works have been digitally captured as a record of what our landscape looked like before the solar power station is built should the proposal be successful.

We remind everybody that PVDP have published the Statement of Community Consultation (SOCC) for the Botley West Utility-Scale Solar Power Station. Consultations will be held between the 8th December, 2023 (Bladon Methodist Church) to the 19th January, 2024 (Eynsham Village Hall). There will also be a Community Webinar on the 23rd January. This is despite a direct call by SBW to delay the Community Consultation until after Christmas and the New Year to allow people the best opportunity to feed into the process. We encourage everybody to engage with this process. Make yourselves aware of what the proposal contains and how it will affect you and be prepared with questions for the consultation events. The SOCC can be downloaded on the following web page under Phase Two Consultation Documents: https://botleywest.co.uk/document_library.html

Botley West hit the Oxford Mail twice this week on the 23rd November with an article reporting on the disappointment of SBW and CPRE Oxfordshire in the timing of the Public Consultation over Christmas and then an excellent article on the Forever Fields exhibition where citizens affected by the proposed Utility Scale Solar Power Station have used their many talents, whether through photography, painting, prints, poetry or other means of artistic expression to record the current beauty of our local landscape as well as to provide a record of how it looks now so that if the Botley West proposal goes ahead there is record of how the countryside must be restored afterwards. Anthony Thompson, the organiser of Forever Fields also gave an excellent interview on BBC Radio Oxford about the proposed development and the exhibition.

The Oxford Local Plan 2040 has now been published in its first draft by Oxford City Council. The plan covers areas such as protecting heritage, house building, net zero carbon policies, biodiversity targets and employment. We note that the headlines to tackling the climate emergency are mainly around net zero building policies. Despite a glossy picture of solar panels over a car parking area, roof-top or brown field solar are not mentioned on the website. There is now an opportunity to comment on substantive issues related to the plans with a deadline of the 5th January. We encourage everyone to read the plan and to respond to the consultation. See here and go to the bottom of the webpage to link through to the consultation.

Please attend the FOREVER FIELDS exhibition of works from local artists celebrating our incredible green spaces at Worton Park, 24th – 26th November. See the advert at the end of this newsletter.

PVDP has published the Statement of Community Consultation (SOCC) for the Botley West Utility-Scale Solar Power Station. Consultations will be held between the 8th December, 2023 (Bladon Methodist Church) to the 19th January, 2024 (Eynsham Village Hall). There will also be a Community Webinar on the 23rd January. This is despite a direct call by SBW to delay the Community Consultation until after Christmas and the New Year to allow people the best opportunity to feed into the process. It is what it is unfortunately. We encourage everybody to engage with this process. Make yourselves aware of what the proposal contains and how it will affect you and be prepared with questions for the consultation events. Further details and guidance on SBW website. The SOCC can be downloaded here under Phase Two Consultation Documents.

The SBW Chair wrote to PVDP to ask for a delay in the public consultation. It is felt that holding the public consultation over the Christmas and New Year period will inevitably mean that people are away during the festive break or spending time with friends and family. Unfortunately this request has been turned down.

The Oxford Local Plan 2040 has now been published in its first draft by Oxford City Council. The plan covers areas such as protecting heritage, house building, net zero carbon policies, biodiversity targets and employment. We note that the headlines to tackling the climate emergency are mainly around net zero building policies. Despite a glossy picture of solar panels over a car parking area, roof-top or brown field solar are not mentioned on the website. There is now an opportunity to comment on substantive issues related to the plans with a deadline of the 5th January. We encourage everyone to read the plan and to respond to the consultation. See here and go to the bottom of the webpage to link through to the consultation.

Please attend the FOREVER FIELDS exhibition of works from local artists celebrating our incredible green spaces at Worton Park, 24th – 26th November. See the advert at the end of this newsletter.

Dear Supporters – please see the latest news below, and this week’s Newsletter from Professor Alex Rogers – Co-Chair of the SBW campaign. Plus, make sure to scroll down to see an update on the Forever Fields project! As ever, your thoughts and offers of help and support are always welcome.

The SBW Steering Committee held a strategy meeting at Woodstock Town Hall this week. Given the impending public consultation it was felt that it was time to take stock of our strategy moving forward and how to organise effectively and work with our volunteers to stop the Botley West Solar Power Station proposal. A huge thanks to the Town Hall for the loan of its meeting rooms and to our advisors. The meeting was enormously helpful and a more focused strategy will be implemented forthwith.

We are very pleased to report that the SBW campaign has finally completed negotiations to open a charitable bank account, a critical step in our pathway to becoming a charity. We will look forward to transparent reporting of our accounts and both past spending and future spending requirements should the Botley West proposal continue along the path of consideration for planning approval. Funding is critical to the SBW campaign but also to future needs such as the hiring of experts to fill knowledge gaps or for legal proceedings should they be needed. We will also publish plans of how these funds will be dispersed should the campaign be successful. Enormous thanks to the members of the SBW Steering Committee who have put their time and effort into this process.

Additionally, one local resident who supports the proposed power station, has accused the Campaign of ‘intimidation’.

Both of these comments are taken very seriously by the Campaign and after discussion we wanted to share our position on these communications.

SBW’s Position

Supporters – and opposers – of the campaign will know that the SBW objective is to stop the proposed Botley West Utility Scale Solar Power Station development. As such, SBW is entitled to use the means open to it in a democratic society and within the law to stop the proposed power station being built.

As the Botley West Utility Scale Solar Power Station is counted as a Nationally Significant Development (NSIP), the ability of local communities to have input into the planning process is significantly limited, writing to landowners is one of the few means available to local people to influence the outcome of this proposal.

SBW find it astonishing that PVDP accuse the Campaign and members of the public of behaving in a way that may impact the welfare of a few individual landowners, when this proposal will, and arguably already is, affecting the welfare of thousands of residents of West Oxfordshire, Vale of White Horse, and Cherwell District Councils.

Therefore, SBW will continue to urge supporters to write to John P. Gee & Sons, as is everyone’s privilege in a fair, democratic and open society.

Why does the Campaign feel comfortable that this is not ‘intimidation’?

The SBW mandate comes from the local communities affected by this proposal, and must point out that a survey by the developers themselves, PVDP, revealed that 80% of residents of the affected area who responded to PVDP’s request for feedback, are against the proposal.

This is not surprising, since the proposal will transform the landscape of West Oxfordshire to the detriment of the wellbeing of its residents, visitors, wildlife, and food production.

As part of the SBW campaign, supporters were encouraged to write to the Fellows and Governing Body of Merton College, asking them to reconsider offering their land for use in the Botley West Power Station. Merton, after carrying out further research into the project have subsequently withdrawn their land from the proposal, equating to about 5% of the total area for the solar power station.

SBW are now expanding this part of the campaign by encouraging supporters to write respectfully to other land holders, whose property forms part of the Botley West proposal, asking them to similarly withdraw. One of these land holders is John P. Gee & Sons Ltd, owned by members of the Gee family who own farming land close to Cumnor in Oxfordshire; 200 acres of that land forms part of the Botley West Power Station proposal, including land which may be intended for the building of a National Grid electricity substation.

SBW point out that John P. Gee & Sons is a farming company, and that farming is one of a small number of types of business where Directors often live in a house on the land belonging to the business. It is not “a local farmer” but a farming company, with several Directors. Effectively, they are owner-operators. It is therefore not possible to write to the company without addressing the Directors themselves, in this case, members of the Gee family.

Both SBW and its members, including neighbours of the farming business in question who will be directly affected by this proposal, are entitled to write to the Directors of John P. Gee and Sons and request that they reconsider offering their land for this development. This is comparable to what has already been done in writing to the Fellows of Merton College who, as members of its Governing Body, are the Trustees of the college. In the same way, SBW supporters have been writing to the Trustees of Blenheim Estates, who control the great majority of all the land being offered to PVDP.

PVDP now asked that SBW do not send our comments to the landowners involved but address them through PVDP’s PR company itself. However, it is clearly inappropriate that any such letters are routed through PVDP, as they are an appeal by concerned residents in Oxfordshire directly to the landholders themselves.

Therefore, the Campaign encourages you to exercise your democratic right by writing to John P. Gee and Sons at Denmans Farm, Farmoor, Oxford, Oxfordshire, OX2 9NJ and respectfully oppose the Directors plans to allow their farmland to become part of the Botley West power station.

Best wishes,

The Stop Botley West Campaign

It was great to hear via a statement on their website that Merton College have withdrawn their land from the Botley West proposal.  The Campaign applauds the deeper research and due diligience the Fellows did into the proposals and the integrity they have shown by taking the decision to step away from the project. Stop Botley West is conscious that Merton’s land is only 5% of the entire scheme and there is much left to do, however the Campaign would like to thank all of you who actively wrote to Merton and campaigned against their involvement.  Blenheim next???

This is an opportunity to submit your own ideas for the area to West Oxfordshire District Council and to see what other ideas have been submitted. Obviously, this area includes the proposed land for the Botley West Utility-Scale Solar Power Station. However, there are only 2 weeks left to do this. Submit your ideas by following the link here and then click on “Call for ideas, Opportunities and Sites”.

Cherwell District Council are holding a further consultation on their 2040 Local Plan. This is an opportunity for all of you to comment on the major developments within Cherwell’s boundaries including the Botley West Utility-Scale Solar Power Station. This has now been published with Consultation lasting until 3 November. There is an exhibition in Woodstock on 17 October.  If you want to have a say, follow the link here.

Prof. Alex Rogers, Co-Chair of the Stop Botley West campaign will be giving a talk on the Botley West Utility-Scale Solar Power Station at Cassington Village Hall. Will it be before, during or after the consultation? We will see! Come to learn more about the Botley West proposal, how the planning process will unfold, impacts on people and the environment and implications for democracy and social justice.

That result is in no small part due to the pressure we all put on them to do more research and due diligence into the credibility of the developer, PVDP (aka Solar Five) and the impact that the plan will have on local residents, biodiversity and farmland.  We cannot thank you enough for the time and energy you put into contacting Merton –  it certainly paid off!

WHAT NEXT?

Now the attention must move towards another minority landowner in this project, the Gee farming family of Cumnor.This family has been farming the fields around Cumnor for many decades, but is now a significant and critically placed member of the Botley West Solar power station landowners.  PVDP are proposing to use 200 acres of the Gee’s land, not only for solar panels, but primarily to build the large and permanent grid substation.

PVDP currently say that this substation will be 165m x 135m, covering about 2.3 hectares (5.5 acres)​ – equivalent to more than 3 football pitches – with a maximum structure height of 12m (40 feet) and will be the key connecting point for Botley West generated power into the National Grid.  Without this substation there is no Botley West proposal, so, for the sake of future generations (the plan is set to last for 40 years but the substation would be permanent!), we must ask the Gee Family to reconsider. We urge the Gees to rise above the lure of personal profit, listen to 80% of their neighbours who reject the proposal and help us ensure our future energy is not controlled by faceless, international businesses.

WRITE TO…

Yet again, we are very concerned about the Developer’s questionable track record in delivering a solar power station of this size (they’ve never seen a project through from start to finish) and the finances that are behind the plans, as researched by, and written about repeatedly, in Private Eye.

We are also concerned to understand what Merton really discovered in their deeper due diligence investigations to make them drop the project.

We therefore ask you to write to the Gee family business and ask them the same questions that we put to Merton. Let them know the strength of feeling local residents have about this over-sized, wrongly located and in-efficient form of generating renewable energy – all in the name of profit for the few.  We’d encourage each of you to write and challenge their decision. It’s hard to ignore over 1,500 voices, especially when some of them are neighbours!

If you are concerned about writing to a private individual we’d like to reassure you that the address we are supplying is a company address and is publicly available on Companies house.  Therefore, please take 10 mins and the price of a stamp to write a letter to:-

John P Gee & Sons Limited, Denmans Farm, Eynsham Road, Farmoor, Oxford OX2 9NJ

With very best wishes,

The Stop Botley West Campaign

Private Eye spotted the story of Merton College pulling 170 acres of their land out of the Botley West Solar Power Station Scheme. They also report that the Blenheim Estate owes about £168 million in loans and links this directly to current efforts to monetise its land holdings. It further points out the huge financial incentives for the Chief Executive, Dominic Hare and Chief Operating Officer, Roger File for achieving financial targets by 2026. Worth remembering when we’re being told by those very same people, that Botley West is being done to weaponise Blenheim Palace and its Estate in the fight against climate change.

A huge thanks to our “SBW Flyers” for attending a successful meeting on Tuesday 17th October.  Representatives of 12 of the affected villages met to share ideas and discuss how to keep their communities well informed about the campaign’s progress by erecting placards, displaying posters, posting on Facebook, and getting articles into your Parish Magazines.  Most importantly they are building up teams in each village to prepare for PVDP’s upcoming Statutory Consultation.

Two key tasks will be distributing leaflets and attending the consultations as a SBW volunteer.  If you feel you could help and would like to join YOUR village’s team, please e-mail and we will put you in touch with the right person.

Of course, all these placards, posters and leaflets cost money so any donation you can give will be tremendously useful.

This is an opportunity to submit your own ideas for the area to West Oxfordshire District Council and to see what other ideas have been submitted. Obviously, this area includes the proposed land for the Botley West Utility-Scale Solar Power Station. However, there is less than one week left to do this (24th October). Submit your ideas by following the link here and then clicking on “Call for ideas, Opportunities and Sites”

Cherwell District Council are holding a further consultation on their 2040 Local Plan. This is an opportunity for all of you to comment on the major developments within Cherwell’s boundaries including the Botley West Utility-Scale Solar Power Station. This has now been published with Consultation lasting until 3 November.  If you want to have a say, follow the link here.

Prof. Alex Rogers, Co-Chair of the Stop Botley West campaign, will be sharing his insight into the Botley West Utility-Scale Solar Power Station.

Will it be before, during, or after the consultation?! We will see! Come to Cassington Village Hall to learn more about the Botley West proposal; how the planning process will unfold; impacts on people and the environment and implications for democracy and social justice.

On the evening of Thursday 25th September Witney Eco Forum held An Evening with Robert Courts MP, an open event chaired by The Rt. Rev. Steven Croft, Bishop of Oxford, and facilitated by Roger Harrabin, BBC energy and environment analyst. The event involved discussions amongst Roger Harrabin and the Guest Speakers, pre-submitted questions from the public, and open questions.

The meeting focused on the Government’s stepping back on elements of its Net Zero policy. Concerns were raised on whether this meant a shift away from Net Zero, to which Robert Courts responded that it was more of a change in how to reach the 2050 targets, rather than a change in the targets themselves.

Concerns were raised about damage to the U.K.’s reputation for setting the international climate agenda. A member of the audience spoke in favour of the Botley West scheme and asked Robert Courts why he was not supporting the scheme. He pointed out that the great majority of residents in the areas affected (80%) were opposed to the scheme and he felt an obligation to support his constituents.

The meeting ended with the Bishop of Oxford stating that climate change and biodiversity loss were the major existential issues of the age and there was a pressing need to repair nature and the climate for future generations. The audience was clearly very engaged with the entire climate and biodiversity issue, but it was notable that the vast majority of the audience were more senior in age, with, sadly, very few young people evident.

This is an opportunity to submit your own ideas for the area to West Oxfordshire District Council and to see what other ideas have been submitted. Obviously, this area includes the proposed land for the Botley West Utility-Scale Solar Power Station. However, there are only 4 weeks left to do this. Submit your ideas by following the link here and then click on “Call for ideas, Opportunities and Sites”. Other aspects of the proposed Local Plan are also open to comments. Again, check on the WODC planning portal for the consultation link.

Cherwell District Council are also holding a further consultation on their 2040 Local Plan. This is an opportunity for all of you to comment on the major developments within Cherwell’s boundaries including the Botley West Utility-Scale Solar Power Station. This has now been published with Consultation lasting until 3 November. There is an exhibition in Woodstock on 17 October.  If you want to have a say, follow the link here.

Prof. Alex Rogers, Co-Chair of the Stop Botley West campaign will be giving a talk on the Botley West Utility-Scale Solar Power Station at Cassington Village Hall. Will it be before, during or after the consultation? We will see! Come to learn more about the Botley West proposal, how the planning process will unfold, impacts on people and the environment and implications for democracy and social justice.

Instead, Hall Farm, which forms part of the Merton College land holdings, will be managed to encourage biodiversity and soil carbon storage. Stop Botley West applauds this decision and whilst Merton reserve the right to develop renewable energy schemes in the future, this appears to be a positive decision for the landscape around the villages of Yarnton, Bladon, Begbroke and Cassington. Although the reasons for this change of heart are unclear at present, Stop Botley West thank all those who have assisted in the campaign, as well as written to Merton College and its Fellows.

It’s been very much a consistent, widely supported effort to encourage Merton to see sense and to take charge of their own renewable future rather than hand the power over to international and feudal greed.

We remain conscious that this is only 5% of the Botley West scheme and much is left to do to fight this proposal.

We are still awaiting dates for the public consultation for the proposal and will keep you informed on all new developments. Merton College’s statement can be found here.

Have a great weekend and thank you for your continued support.  Together, as the people who live and care about the area in which we live we can beat this proposal.

The Stop Botley West Campaign