Consultation on huge solar farm plan ends on Friday

Placards and signs against the proposal are displayed across the area

The public consultation for a solar farm that would be one of the biggest in the country ends on Friday.

Developers Island Green Power wants to build solar panels on 2,000 acres of farmland across six villages in Wiltshire.

More than 14,000 people, including farmers and residents, have signed a petition against the plans.

Island Green Power said the solar farm, called Lime Down, would give a net gain in biodiversity and it will see farmers "through bad times".

The proposed solar farm site is near Malmesbury and Sherston

'Opponents have valid points'

Locations covered by the plans include agricultural land in the villages of Sherston, Hullavington and Stanton St Quintin, near Malmesbury.

The solar site would be connected into the National Grid substation in Melksham, and would cover 2,000 acres (810 hecatres).

It scheme is designed to create 500MW of clean energy - said to be enough to power 115,000 homes.

Speaking on BBC Radio Wiltshire, Island Green's development director Dave Elvin said: "The farmers get to diversify and help sustain their business."

He added he had been told some landowners had told their staff the solar plan would secure their jobs.

"This year has been horrific for farming in terms of all the weather has ruined crops, and it [could] see them through those bad times," Mr Elvin added.

"Everyone feels understandably very protective of the areas they live in. This one does seem to have got a lot of interest earlier than we have seen.

"They [the scheme's opponents] have valid points and valid questions, and we want to understand what their concerns are and work with them to address them."

At a public meeting hosted by local MP James Gray in April, hundreds of people turned out to express their views, many saying the solar panels would ruin the area, although others spoke in support.

'Don't use farmland'

The Stop Lime Down campaign group says it is not against solar power overall.

"This is not an anti-solar campaign," they said in a statement on their website.

"We believe that large industrial solar farms should be located on former industrial sites or next to motorways, not on productive farmland."

The campaign group also says Wiltshire already has some of the biggest solar farms in the country.