Save Hackmead Views: campaign launches ahead of consultation on 40-acre Somerset solar farm

A campaign has launched in opposition to a proposed 40-acre solar development at Hackmead Farm, on the Jolliffe Estate between Charlton and Holcombe, ahead of a public consultation on Thursday 14 May at the Royal British Legion, Coleford.

Visual impact of Phase 2 not disclosed

Residents only learned of the proposal in recent weeks. The same applicant – Tyler Hill Consulting and Zenexa Renewables – secured planning consent in 2024 for 16 acres of solar panels at the adjacent Ash Farm site. Phase 2 was not disclosed during the Phase 1 consultation. Together, the two phases would industrialise approximately 56 acres of land along a ridge visible from Westfield, Radstock, Kilmersdon, Charlton, Haydon, Writhlington, Peasedown St John, and the Grade II* listed Jolliffe Column.

Save Hackmead Views, a non-profit community group formed in response to the proposal, says the campaign is “pro-solar, anti-this-site”.

A spokesperson for the campaign, said: “We support renewable energy. We don’t support hiding 40 acres of industrial development from a community during a Phase 1 consultation, and then arriving with the rest of the plan once consent is in. How can the developer claim limited visibility when the ridge is plainly visible from eight villages and the protected setting of heritage assets? This is creeping industrialisation of our countryside, and our community deserves better.”

The campaign argues that the cumulative impact of the two developments has not been properly assessed. The applicant operates through a network of companies in multiple countries (Zenexa Renewables has existed for under two years and is already on its third trading name), and the campaign group says the planning approach has been “sequential by design”, splitting one large development into two applications to avoid scrutiny of the combined harm.

The site sits within the wider setting of three nationally protected heritage assets: Downside Abbey (Grade I), the Jolliffe Column (Grade II*), and Ammerdown House (Grade II*). It is also adjacent to Jack & Jill Hill, a much-loved local landmark in Kilmersdon.

Prime farmland inside a wildlife area

Roughly a third of the proposed Phase 2 site is classified as Best and Most Versatile (BMV) agricultural land, the highest grade of soil. Objectors to the proposal argue that covering high-quality soil with solar panels for 40 years undermines national food security. It will also impact the protected wildlife that use this site.

Further industrialisation of rural community

The Hackmead proposal lands against a backdrop of mounting industrial-scale development across the area. Two major housing schemes on either side of a single roundabout near Midsomer Norton have recently been approved: up to 270 homes at the White Post site on the A367 Green Park Road, advanced by Waddeton Park Ltd and Barratt Bristol; and 180 homes opposite at Fosseway South, where Persimmon Homes Wessex secured approval after the Planning Inspectorate overturned the local council’s earlier refusal. Construction at Fosseway South is due to begin this spring.

Local objections to the White Post scheme include construction traffic on narrow rural roads and the loss of public rights of way and rural amenity. Save Hackmead Views says the cumulative effect of these schemes is the gradual industrialisation of communities that have been quietly rural for generations, often through decisions imposed over local objections.

POSTED BY COLEFORD PARISH COUNCIL WITHOUT PREJUDICE