Billionaire wins approval for 40-acre solar farm at historic estate

By Tom Bevan

A billionaire has been given the green light to build a 40-acre solar farm on his land after winning a planning dispute with neighbors.

Hedge fund owner Chris Rokos has been renovating a 100-bed mansion in Marlborough, Wiltshire, known as Tottenham House.

His representatives also submitted plans to Wiltshire Council to turn 40 acres of his 4,500-acre Savernake Estate into a solar farm that were approved despite concerns from locals.

The project "seeks to ensure Tottenham House and Estate's long-term and sustainable future" by supplying the mansion and its outbuildings with "a sustainable form of power and water to enable its functional operation."

It had been described by one neighbor in objections as a "substantial visual and historical intrusion."

But Rokos can now move forward after Wiltshire Council approved key construction details for the project.

Council planners have partially discharged a planning condition covering construction and environmental management, allowing work on the solar array itself to begin.

The plans for the huge solar farm were initially met with criticism from both neighbors and the local parish council.

And while some praise Rokos' overall regeneration efforts, fears were also expressed that the huge number of panels would negatively impact the "area of outstanding natural beauty."

The proposed plot, situated on the northern boundary of the extensive plot, is currently used as pasture for dairy cows and for producing silage.

The site adjoins a public footpath which runs between the hamlet of Durley and St Katharine's Church and elementary school - though it is shielded from view by trees.

Once operational, the ground-mounted panels are expected to generate around 794,600 kilowatt-hours of electricity a year, enough to meet a significant share of the estate's energy needs.

About 44 percent of the electricity produced will be used on site, with the remainder exported to the local grid.

The scheme forms part of efforts to secure a more sustainable future for Tottenham House, one of Wiltshire's most significant historic properties, which has undergone extensive restoration in recent years.

Despite being located within the estate's historic parkland, planners concluded the benefits of the project outweighed any harm to the heritage setting.

The array will be screened by existing woodland and new planting designed to reduce its visibility, while the panels will be mounted on screw piles rather than permanent concrete foundations. This means the installation could be removed in the future if required.

The land will also remain in agricultural use, with grazing able to continue around the panels.

The solar project was originally approved as part of a wider package of works that also includes a large water storage lagoon, a new utility water connection and landscape improvements across the estate.

While construction of the solar array can now proceed, further environmental management details will still need to be approved before work begins on other parts of the wider development, including the water lagoon and associated infrastructure.

Several neighbors objected to the initial plans.

Among them was nearby resident Richard Frics who said: "The restoration of Tottenham House is clearly a very desirable step in reversing the degradation of a Grade 1 Listed mansion, which was on the register of Heritage Assets at Risk.

"The creation of a solar PV array has not previously been mooted and it is in respect of this element of the latest planning application that we wish to lodge our objection.

"We understand that the ground mounted PV array will cover 'a little over one hectare of ground'.

"Not only will it be situated in an AONB but also a Grade 2* Registered Park and Garden next to a Capability Brown landscape.

"In addition it will be in direct view of the Grade 2* listed stable block. The glare from a three-acre block of glass will massively change the outlook from this protected historic building.

"The proposal will erode the special qualities of this Heritage Landscape. It will also set an undesirable precedent for future planning applications elsewhere in the country."

Another neighbor Mark Colquhoun added that he commended the overall restoration, which he described as "an exemplary project."

But he described the solar farm as a "substantial visual and historical intrusion."

He added: "To place modern energy infrastructure here undermines the character and legibility of this protected setting, contrary to national and local heritage policies."

The former owner of Tottenham House, the Earl of Cardigan David Brudenell-Bruce, sold the 4,500-acre Savernake Estate to a developer in 2014 for £11.25 million ($15.1 million) after it had been in the same family for 200 years.

Tottenham House was part of the Savernake Estate, which dates back to the Norman Conquest when it was a royal hunting forest.