'Part of our culture is the countryside': The battle over Botley West, Britain's biggest solar project

Michael Holder
clock • 20 min read
One of the many fields set to house solar panels as part of the Botley West project
Image:

One of the many fields set to house solar panels as part of the Botley West project

Britain's biggest solar project looks set to be a central battleground in Labour's war against the 'blockers' – could major planning reform enhance or damage support for net zero?

Deep in the Southern English countryside, within spitting distance of Jeremy Clarkson's farm on one side, and David Cameron's garden shed on the other, a big battle is raging. Here in leafy Oxfordshire,...

To continue reading this article...

Join BusinessGreen

In just a few clicks you can start your free BusinessGreen Lite membership for 12 months, providing you access to:

  • Three complimentary articles per month covering the latest real-time news, analysis, and opinion from Europe’s leading source of information on the Green economy and business
  • Receive important and breaking news stories via our daily news alert
  • Our weekly newsletter with the best of the week’s green business news and analysis

Join now

 

Already a BusinessGreen member?

Login

More on Solar

'You can't eat electricity': How rural solar farms became the latest battlefront in Britain's culture war

'You can't eat electricity': How rural solar farms became the latest battlefront in Britain's culture war

Solar farms have been dragged into the culture wars, but is it possible for policymakers to map out a route towards a truce?

Alex Heffron, Lancaster University and Tom Carter-Brookes, Keele University - The Conversation
clock 06 November 2025 • 5 min read
Exceedingly good solar: Mr Kipling unveils £2.1m solar farm at Barnsley bakery

Exceedingly good solar: Mr Kipling unveils £2.1m solar farm at Barnsley bakery

New 2.2MW on site solar farm installed to power cake production and cut carbon at the Premier Foods site in South Yorkshire

Stuart Stone
clock 30 October 2025 • 2 min read
GB Energy: Expanded solar rollout to save NHS trusts estimated £65m

GB Energy: Expanded solar rollout to save NHS trusts estimated £65m

Solar scheme's latest phase to enable tens of millions of pounds to be reinvested in frontline services at more than 70 NHS sites, government says

Stuart Stone
clock 24 October 2025 • 4 min read