Latest news with #communitybenefit
BBC News
5 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Botley West Solar Farm: Land near airport removed from plans
A portion of land near an airport will no longer be included in plans for one of Europe's largest solar farms. Botley West Solar Farm will cover about 1,000 hectares (2,471 acres) of countryside at three sites in west Oxfordshire if approved. Developers Photo Vault Development Partners (PVDP) said it had now scaled the proposal back by 10 hectares - equivalent to about 16 football pitches - after Oxford Airport raised concerns about building on land that could potentially be needed in the event of an emergency landing. The £800m development has been designated as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project and is currently being evaluated by the government. It would see panels installed in countryside north of Woodstock, west of Kidlington and west of said it would now not be installing solar panels on "sensitive areas" identified for potential emergency landings by aircraft operating from Oxford Airport."We have... agreed to remove panels from areas identified as particularly sensitive, in direct response to local concerns," Mark Owen-Lloyd, director of Botley West Solar Farm, said."These changes reflect our commitment to working in partnership and cooperation with the communities around Botley West and ensuring the project delivers real, lasting benefits where they are most needed," he developers also announced that it had doubled its community benefit fund to £440,000 a year following discussions with local suggested the investment could be used to upgrade community facilities, develop youth and skills programmes and to support local sustainability announcements come in the same week that West Oxfordshire District Council said the development would cause "major harm lasting generations" and should be "dramatically reduced" in comments, which included that the proposals were "detrimental" to the area, came in the council's final written submission to the said it disagreed with the local authority and had made several changes to the proposed locations of solar panels. You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
BBC News
25-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
New homes plan for site in Clowne shelved
Plans to build council homes on a plot of land in Clowne have been District Council says the site, off Rood Lane, will be removed from its new homes programme due to the complexities around building at the the authority will explore using the land as a sports pitch or nature area."We have looked at the options available for this site and we feel it is in the best interests of the council and the local area to remove it from our Bolsover Homes building programme," said council leader Jane Yates. "We will now look to use this land for either Biodiversity Net Gain or leisure purposes that will benefit the local community, with a further report being submitted for our consideration."
BBC News
08-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Former Wisbech funeral directors base to become café and flats
A former funeral directors' shop which has stood empty for almost a decade is to get a new lease of has been granted to convert the building in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, to be converted into a café and two residential developer said the plan would bring the empty property on Norwich Road back into use and create Town Council has supported the project but raised concerns about parking provision in the area. It is believed the unusual building, with a circular tower structure on one side, has been disused since Local Democracy Reporting Service said permission was granted in 2021 to convert it into flats, but the plan was never latest proposal involves raising the roof to accommodate two planning documents, developer Ming He said: ""The site did have planning permission to remove the vast majority of the commercial element and change it into flats."The current proposal will therefore have a community benefit, allowing what has been an empty property for some time to be brought back into use, as well as the potential to create employment and a café." There has been some support for the proposal, with one neighbour describing it as "a solid idea"."The building's been sitting empty for too long, so it's great to see it getting used," they said. "A café would be a vibe since there's nothing like it around here. Hope this goes through."However, the town council said it had some concerns about the impact of the development on parking in the District Council granted permission for the work to create the café and two flats, subject to conditions, including for work to start within three years. Follow Cambridgeshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
