Developer refuses public meeting over plans to put huge solar farm on Shropshire man's family farm

Get the latest headlines delivered straight to your inbox with the Shropshire Star’s free newsletter

Earlier this month, south Shropshire farmer Rob Alderson said he fears losing the farm his family have worked on since the end of the First World War, after it was earmarked for a solar farm.

The third generation farmer said he feels “the rug is being pulled from under my feet” after ILOS announced its plans to turn around 90 acres of his land into a 22-megawatt solar farm at his tenanted Upper Walton Farm in Onibury.

Now the energy firm has turned down a formal request from a Shropshire councillor for a proper public meeting on the proposed solar farm; the developer has instead confirmed the community's only opportunity to engage in person will be a single consultation event on 15 September.

Councillor Josh Dickin wrote to ILOS New Energy UK Ltd on August 12 asking the company to consider holding an additional public consultation event, given the scale and significance of the proposal.

He said that in a written response, Edward Martin, land manager at ILOS, confirmed that the company "does not currently consider that a further public consultation event would be proportionate or necessary," describing an additional round of consultation as "unusual to undertake for a project of this scale and nature”.

The Keep Shropshire Beautiful campaign, which formally opposes the 22.2-megawatt development on the nature-rich farmland, said the response was disappointing but not entirely surprising.

"We have already documented eight breeding skylark territories, an active barn owl nestbox that has produced 14 owlets since 2005, and many years of soil records confirming this as Best and Most Versatile agricultural land," a spokesperson for the campaign said. "None of that appears anywhere in ILOS's response to a county councillor asking for a proper opportunity for residents to be heard. That silence speaks for itself.”

ILOS's letter details engagement carried out to date, including a presentation to Onibury Parish Council in May - which the campaigners said was not communicated to the wider community by ILOS in advance - unannounced door-to-door visits in July, and a farm visit with Mr Alderson.

The company has confirmed the September 15 event will be followed by an online consultation period and, later, a statutory consultation once the full planning application is submitted, expected in November 2026.

The spokesperson for Keep Shropshire Beautiful, which has gathered more than 2,400 signatures on its online petition, and has the formal backing of South Shropshire MP Stuart Anderson, as well as impressionist Alistair McGowan, added: "We are not against renewable energy. We are against the wrong development in the wrong place, and against a process that does not feel like it is genuinely listening to the community it will affect for the next 40 years."

A spokesperson for ILOS New Energy UK Ltd said: “ILOS has carried out extensive early engagement, including attending the Onibury Parish Council AGM, meeting the tenant farmer, visiting nearby households’ door-to-door, and holding follow-up discussions with residents. This will be followed by a public consultation event and online consultation in September, giving local people a clear opportunity to review the proposals and provide feedback before the planning application is finalised.

“We are also happy to arrange dedicated meetings with members of the project team to address any residual questions in more detail where that would be helpful. Given the level of engagement already undertaken, and with further formal consultation to follow through Shropshire Council once an application is submitted, we do not believe a second public consultation event would be proportionate or necessary.

“The programme also needs to allow sufficient time for feedback from the September consultation to be properly reviewed and, where appropriate, reflected in the final scheme before submission.”