PLANS have been submitted for a new solar farm in Test Valley – alongside an existing array which previously proved controversial with villagers.

Construction engineering company PS Renewables has lodged an application with Test Valley Borough Council to construct a solar farm on land east of Broughton Road, Houghton, next Eveley Solar Farm.

Gander Down Solar Farm, as it would be known, would be made up of up to 12,000 solar panels, with the anticipated maximum height of up to 2.5metres above ground level.

The company said the project would supply 6.2MW of clean renewable electricity to the National Grid, providing the equivalent annual electrical needs of approximately 2,050 family homes a year.

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The application added: “The anticipated CO₂ displacement is around 2,400 tonnes per annum, which represents an emission saving equivalent of a reduction in 1,000 cars on the road.”

If approved, the point of connection would be at an existing substation on Faithfulls Drove, Houghton.

“There is an explicit need for the deployment of solar farms and other renewable energy generation, which is driven by a plethora of Government legislation at both a local and national level in the UK, together with global directives and statements,” the application said.

It added: “The principle of renewable energy, such as solar power, is clearly supported by local and national planning policy. Furthermore, Test Valley Borough Council has committed to tackling climate change and the UK Government has committed to meeting a legally binding target of net zero carbon emissions by 2050.”

All existing hedgerows and grass margins would be retained within the development proposal. A small section of hedgerow would need to be removed in the west of the site to allow for the new access onto the land, but the company said that any loss of hedgerow will be suitably mitigated.

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The new farm would sit alongside Eveley Solar Farm which proved controversial with nearby Broughton residents when the application was submitted in 2013.

Villagers formed a protest group to fight the proposal by German company Kronos Solar, they argued that it would turn an attractive and productive countryside into an industrial site.

The exact size of the PS Renewables project is not known, but pictures show it is small in comparison to the 150-acre project at Eveley Farm, which has 189,000 reflective solar panels.

To view the application, go to view-applications.testvalley.gov.uk/online-applications and search 22/02325/FULLS.