A public consultation is under way for a large solar farm near Grazeley — and it comes just as West Berkshire Council has dropped its own proposal for a neighbouring site.
West Berkshire Council has put its Bloomfield Hatch solar project on hold while it reworks the business case for a proposed £20m investment. The council says it has no spare cash to build the scheme and there are questions over whether projected income would cover about £2m a year in running costs.
The nearby scheme at Fullers Lane is being promoted by developer One Planet. All documents for the proposal are at https://www.oneplanet.ltd/fullerslane.
The planning application covers about 70 hectares: 57 hectares of solar panels with roughly 13 hectares retained as grassland around the edges. The paperwork includes line drawings of panels and battery storage units, but gives no information on how much One Planet makes from such schemes. One Planet develops solar farms and battery energy storage projects across the UK.
The company claims that each year the West Berkshire solar farm will generate the equivalent electricity used by 17,000 homes — about 25 per cent of homes in West Berkshire.
The development would be temporary (40 years) and reversible — a point often raised by opponents who say 40 years is beyond living memory and risks permanent loss of countryside. One Planet says the land can be returned to arable production after the project ends.
One Planet has lodged a screening request with West Berkshire Council to decide whether a full environmental impact assessment (EIA) is needed for the 210‑acre agricultural site north of Goring Lane. "The screening is to decide whether the scale/likely impacts are such that detailed assessment under EIA is needed."
Local views are split. Some residents argue that the climate emergency outweighs the loss of farmland; others say productive agricultural land should be protected. The scheme includes plans for wildflower meadows, winter seed for birds, bird and bat boxes, and extra trees and hedges, but concerns remain over visual impact, loss of hedgerows, glint/glare and downstream drainage effects. At screening stage these are not formal objections.
The public consultation will be at Burghfield Community Sports Association on Wednesday 11 March, 3.30pm–7pm.
There are long‑running local concerns about the council’s Grazeley proposals that could resurface if a full application follows. Wokefield Parish Council previously argued the land should remain in food production.
Should West Berkshire revive its own plans, the combined area would be 30 hectares for the council scheme plus 70 hectares if the One Planet application goes ahead.
Niki Hinman, Local Democracy Reporter
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