Dairy farm plans to install thousands of solar panels

The farm off Swindon Road has applied for permission to install over 1450 panels.

The owners of a dairy farm have applied for permission to install more than 1,450 solar panels.

Berkeley Farm Dairy, in Wroughton, near Swindon, says it will use the energy generated itself, with any excess exported to the National Grid.

The company has applied for temporary planning permission for 40 years.

A change of use application is not required because the solar panels are removeable and would not affect the future use of the land.

In its application to Swindon Borough Council, the farm said its energy usage was increasing.

"The dairy industry is a high energy use sector with the need for refrigeration and food processing operations the main power use elements.

"Berkeley Farm Dairy uses approximately 441,000 kWh of electricity per annum, which is already increasing as a result of the expansion of the electric van and milk float fleet the dairy has invested in," it said.

The application says the energy provided by the solar installation would be about 662 mega watt hours a year, saving up to 140 tonnes of carbon dioxide in emissions annually, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, (LDRS).

"This proposal has clear benefits for the local community and local economy as it contributes directly to reducing local carbon emissions and will assist in maintaining and potentially growing local employment opportunities," the farm added.