30 solar power sites in council's sights

Fifteen sites have been put forward as potential solar farms, following a call from Swindon Council for developers, landowners, farmers and the wider community to identify where they could be built.

A further 15 sites have also been identified by the council within the town’s urban area.

This is the latest stage in Swindon Borough Council’s aim to be the first in the UK to use innovative planning measures, known as Local Development Orders (LDOs), to speed up the planning process for low carbon energy generation.

Next week the council’s planning committee will decide whether to include the proposed solar sites in a Low Carbon LDO, which will cover solar arrays and other forms of alternative energy.

If agreed by the committee, there would be a full consultation with residents on any sites that are shortlisted for inclusion, and further consideration by the planning committee, before any are finally approved.

LDOs have been used for other purposes in Swindon since 2010 and automatically grant planning permission for the type of use specified in the order. They are designed to remove the need for a formal planning application to be made and cut unnecessary red tape from the planning process.

LDOs speed up applications because much of the necessary preparatory work has already been done, giving confidence to developers interested in a site that permission will automatically be granted if the necessary conditions are met, and local communities can have certainty that their views have been taken into account.

All the proposed sites will be assessed against a range of environmental measures, including landscape and visual impact, compatibility with adjoining uses, the classification of the agricultural land they are proposed to cover, and the impact on historic and environmental sites.

The 30 sites are:

• Horpit, near Wanborough

• M4 solar panel noise barrier

• A419 solar panel noise barrier

• Former landfill land at Barnfield

• Land at Mannington Depot

• Land within Chapel Farm landfill site

• Inlands Farm, Wanborough

• Common Farm, Wroughton

• Newburn Sidings, former railway land west of Dean Street, Rodbourne

• Multi-storey car parks: Brunel North, Brunel West, Fleming Way, The Parade, Spring Gardens

• Other car parks: Northern Orbital Centre, West Swindon Centre/Shaw Ridge

• Sainsburys/Homebase Bridgemead, Morrisons Dorcan Way, Morrisons Haydon Wick, Tesco Ocotal Way, Greenbridge Retail and Leisure Park, Mannington Retail Park, B&Q Barnfield Road

• Great Western Hospital

• Police HQ Gablecross

• Beech Farm, Stanton Fitzwarren

• Land north of Lower Blunsdon

• Crouch Farm, Highworth Swindon

• Land north of Wroughton

Solar panels at car parks could be on raised canopies, which vehicles park underneath. These are relatively new to the UK but are in use elsewhere.

Another potential benefit of the proposed Low Carbon LDO would be the chance for developers to collaborate on the installation of cabling, reducing construction cost and disruption.

Cllr Dale Heenan, Swindon Borough Council cabinet member for Strategic Planning, Sustainability and Transport, said: “We have a strategy in Swindon to be a low carbon economy and at least meet the national target of 15% of our energy coming from low carbon sources by 2020, which is why this report has been prepared for the members of the Planning Committee to consider.”

Swindon Borough Council has successfully deployed LDOs in other areas to help deliver the right development at the right locations.

BMW has been taking advantage of an LDO covering their Mini Works in Stratton to enable production to be increased to respond to increased demands.

Meanwhile, an LDO has been used at Victoria Road to help deliver the regeneration of this important gateway into the Town Centre, by making it easier to bring empty properties back into use.