Electrifying News: Update

On the 31st March, the National Trust’s Renewable Energy Team hosted a public drop-in session in Windrush Village Hall to promote the development of a small-scale Solar Farm within the Sherborne Estate. An outline plan showing the proposed location for the Solar Farm is attached below.

The site is within the Parish of Windrush. It is located south of the A40, just outside the Cotswold National Landscape (the former Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty). However, it does lie within an area designated as a Special Landscape Area by Cotswold District Council. There is also a Scheduled Monument to the west of the site (Windrush Camp Iron-Age Hillfort) and there are nearby public footpaths to the east, south and south-west (with some relatively open views of the site from the south).

The proposal is for a relatively small-scale Solar Photovoltaic (PV) development occupying an area of about 2 hectares with an output of less than 1Megawatt (MW). The solar panels would be set in south facing rows and would be around 2.5-3m in height. The point of connection to the local grid would be at the substation at Windrush Heights, immediately adjacent to the A40.

The proposed development will be screened from the A40 to the north by an existing woodland plantation and will not be visible from any residential properties. The scheme is not likely to affect the Scheduled Monument to the west, nor is it likely to have any significant landscape character impact in the wider landscape, except for some potential short-range views of the panels from nearby public footpaths to south and south-west.

The scheme is still very much at the concept stage, but the National Trust have undertaken pre-application consultations with Cotswold District Council (CDC). They have received a reasonably positive response from CDC, and will probably submit a planning application this summer, once they have completed the required assessments (i.e. a landscape and visual assessment, an ecological assessment and a heritage assessment). It is then likely to take in the order of 8 weeks for the application to be determined. If planning permission is granted, the development would potentially commence in late 2026 or early 2027. The construction period will take about 2 months.

In terms of the benefits to the residents of Sherborne and Windrush, the Trust would be looking to set up a Local Energy Club (via ‘Energy Local’) which residents can sign up to and receive savings on their electricity bills. The attached briefing note gives further details, as does the following link to the ‘Energy Local’ website: Welcome to Energy Local | Energy Local.

In principle, it appears to be a positive scheme that will generate clean energy and will benefit the local community. Other positive outcomes will be the provision of biodiversity net gain through the planting of new hedgerows on the site perimeter, and the management of land between the solar panels to promote the establishment of native wildflowers. Also, it is appreciated that the National Trust’s Renewable Energy Team is consulting with the community and the two parish councils at an early stage.

If anybody has any concerns about the development, or would like to obtain any further information, then please contact the Parish Council (clerk@sherborneparish.org), or speak to a Parish Councilor, and we will convey any questions to the National Trust’s Renewable Energy Team.

 

Energy Local – Briefing Note

Energy Local is a UK-based initiative aimed at enabling communities to directly benefit from locally generated renewable energy. It focuses on keeping the energy produced by small-scale green generators within the community, using the local distribution network as a private wire.

There is a potential opportunity at Windrush to set up an ‘Energy Local Club’ in which the local community benefit from the renewable energy being generated on their doorstep.

Benefits:

• Local energy generation reduces transmission and distribution costs, which are typically added to energy bills, so this means cheaper energy for local consumers – i.e. residents of Windrush and Sherborne villages.
• Keeping energy local reduces the carbon footprint associated with energy transmission and distribution. It also encourages more sustainable energy practices within the community.

Overall, initiatives like Energy Local help create a more sustainable, cost-effective, and resilient energy system for communities.

Information from the Energy Local website – Welcome to Energy Local | Energy Local

The solution: Energy Local has designed a local market in power via Energy Local Clubs. This enables households to club together to show when they are using local clean power when it is generated. The scheme gives generators a price for the power they produce, that reflects its true value, keeps more money local and reduces household electricity bills.

How does Energy Local work?

• Step 1: Households and small-scale renewable generators as members form an Energy Local Club (ELC) – legally a Cooperative.
• Step 2: The Club chooses a partner energy supplier (such as Octopus Energy) that sells the extra power they need when there is not enough local electricity generated. The supplier sends each household the bill for their total power use.
• Step 3: Households have smart energy meters installed to show when / how much power they were using.
• Step 4: Members (households and generators- in this case NT Windrush Solar) agree a price (“match tariff”) annually that will be paid to the generator when they match their electricity use to when electricity is generated locally, for example, turning their washing machine on when they know the local solar scheme is working at full pelt.”