'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

Great British Energy announces latest wave of 250 solar school projects

Great British Energy announces latest wave of 250 solar school projects

Government confirms 23 schools have now seen solar arrays installed under new investment programme that promises to slash energy bills

James Murray
clock 17 November 2025 • 3 min read
'Tremendous news': Certified solar rooftop installations smash all-time UK record in 2025

'Tremendous news': Certified solar rooftop installations smash all-time UK record in 2025

More than 200,000 certified solar installations have been added to household rooftops across the country so far this year, according to the latest MCS data

Michael Holder
clock 13 November 2025 • 3 min read
'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