Solar farm for St Mary Bourne rejected by Basingstoke Council

June 25, 2025

Solar farm plan rejected by council

55 minutes ago
Google A Google Maps picture of arable land, surrounded by hedgerows, and a road on the right.Google

A plan for a solar farm that its developers said could power about 7,200 family homes has been refused by a council.

Developer BSR Energy applied to use 34.8 hectares (86 acres) of arable farmland at St Mary Bourne, near Andover, Hampshire.

The site is just within the North Wessex Downs National Landscape, formerly known as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council officers recommended it was given the go-ahead, but the authority’s development control committee rejected the application.

It argued it would damage the landscape and that there were no exceptional circumstances that meant it should be approved.