The Strategic Planning Committee of Wiltshire Council was scheduled to consider two significant planning applications: the construction of an anaerobic digestion facility near Ashton Keynes and the development of a solar farm at Whistle Mead, near Melksham. Both applications involved detailed discussions on their environmental, landscape, and highway impacts, with officers recommending approval for both, subject to conditions and legal agreements.

Land West of Ashton Road, Ashton Keynes

The committee was scheduled to consider a proposal for the construction and operation of an anaerobic digestion (AD) facility, including ancillary infrastructure and a new access road from Ashton Road, Ashton Keynes, SN6 6QT. The report pack indicated that officers recommended granting planning permission, subject to a Section 106 agreement and planning conditions.

The AD facility was proposed to process approximately 91,000 tonnes of agricultural feedstock annually, producing biomethane, digestate fertiliser, and CO₂. The design had undergone several revisions to reduce its visual massing and enhance environmental mitigation, including lowering site levels, reducing the number and height of digester tanks, and dedicating approximately 40% of the site to landscape planting and habitat creation.

Key considerations for this application included the principle of development in the countryside, landscape and visual impact, traffic and highway safety, ecology and biodiversity, amenity impacts (noise, odour, air quality), flood risk and drainage, and land quality. The report highlighted significant public objection, particularly concerning proximity to schools, odour, air quality, traffic, and environmental harm to the Cotswold Water Park SSSI. However, officers concluded that, with appropriate conditions and mitigation, the identified harms were limited and outweighed by the benefits of renewable energy generation, carbon reduction, and rural economic support.

Whistle Mead Solar Farm, Little Chalfield

The committee was also scheduled to consider a proposal for a temporary solar farm at Whistle Mead Solar Farm, Little Chalfield, Melksham, SN12 8NP. The application sought temporary planning permission for 40 years for a solar farm with a generating capacity of up to 24.14MW, including solar photovoltaic panels, battery storage, and associated infrastructure. The existing agricultural use of the site, with grazing of farm animals, was intended to continue.

Officers recommended approval, subject to planning conditions. The proposal had been significantly revised during the application process, reducing the developable area, generating capacity, and panel height, and incorporating enhanced landscape and ecological mitigation. These revisions aimed to address concerns raised in a previous appeal decision that had refused a similar, larger-scale solar farm on the same site in 2014.

The assessment focused on the principle of development, landscape and visual impacts, heritage assets, ecology, highway safety, and drainage. Concerns had been raised by local residents and parish councils regarding the scale of the development, visual impact, fire risk from the battery storage system, water contamination, noise, and cumulative impacts with other solar developments in the area. Officers concluded that while there would be some localised landscape and visual impacts, these were considered reversible and mitigated by the proposed planting, and were outweighed by the significant benefits of renewable energy generation and climate change mitigation. The proposal was also considered to comply with national and local policies regarding biodiversity net gain and highway safety.