A man denied permission to have solar panels on his home is battling a 2,200 acre solar farm next door - with plans involving a duke and friend of the King.

Tony Ward has lived in his Grade II listed property in Chippenham, Wiltshire, for twenty years - with the building, mentioned in the Doomsday Book, standing for 400 years.

In 2005, he requested permission to install a small number of solar panels on the family log barn to help compensate for the costs of their ground source heating.

He says the council denied his request because it would mean hot air balloons flying above would not be ‘'able properly to read the way the house had developed over the centuries''.

But now Tony and thousands of other residents say they are being faced with plans for Lime Down Solar development - which they have dubbed a ''nightmare"."

The proposal would see 2,200 acres of four-and-a-half metre high solar panels across several sites - as well as "enormous" battery storage units and cabling in their "peaceful and tranquil" countryside."

Including the cabling, the total project acreage would amount to 7,000.

The plans have been backed by the Duke of Beaufort, as part of the solar complex would be housed on the Duke's 52,000-acre Badminton estate in Gloucestershire.

The Duke - dubbed "Bunter of Badminton" is worth an estimated £300 million and is friends with King Charles, whose private residence Highgrove is nine miles away."

Tony says the proposal would be an "industrial rape on the countryside" - with thousands of ''humming'' solar panels, exported from China, in fields next to his home and tight-knit community."

He said: "When we moved in 20 years ago, we put in ground-source effect heating under the fields in front of the house."

"But behind the house, to defray the costs of the large pumps which are needed for ground source heating, we wanted to put solar panels on our log barn - just a ribbon of solar panels."

"We understand why you can't put solar panels on a listed building and on the stone roofs 400-years-old - but this is a broken down cow barn and it needs a purpose to make it maintainable and to give it a reason for being there."

"So we thought the solar panels were a good idea, but we were turned down on the grounds that balloons flying over the house would not be able properly to read the way the house had developed over the centuries. "

"So we do get balloons flying over because of the balloon industry at Bristol comes out towards Malmsbury, sometimes they land - they've landed in our fields in the past. "

"But now with those 2,000 acres of solar panels in front of us, those balloons won't be able to come anymore. "

"So we weren't allowed to put the panels on this otherwise not-very-purposeful space, and now 20 years later the balloons that would have been upset cant even come because there's going to be vast amounts of countryside covered in panels."

If the Lime Down Solar industrial complex goes ahead, just 300 metres behind his property will lie 2,200 acres of solar panels.

Tony added the area is of "prime historical significance" and the solar panel development will create immense sound and light pollution."

He added: "There's so much history around here."

"There's going to be lights on the various panel developments and the battery developments and those are going to spoil the darkness. "

"The night sky is so crisp and clear here, and there's going to be humming from the panels and the batteries as I understand it."

"Wiltshire council has put huge effort into footpaths around here, making them accessible to people so they can come and enjoy the peace and quiet we love - and that we're trying to protect here."

Tony is one of thousands of residents who have aired their dismay over the proposed site, including the campaign group ‘Stop Lime Down' which has mobilised throughout the community.

Lime Down Solar is designed to create 500MW of clean energy from six sites in villages in the county.

The land covered by the plans include agricultural land in the villages of Sherston, Hullavington, Foxley, Norton, Rodborne and Corston.

Proposals state the sites would be connected into the National Grid's substation in Melksham - 20 kilometres away.

Island Green Power (IGP), who are the project developers, held consultations back in 2024 and acknowledged 88 per cent of respondents opposed.

James Gray, the previous MP for North Wiltshire when the project was announced, deemed the plans for Lime Down Solar as "scandalous"."

Roz Savage, current Liberal Democrat MP for South Cotswolds, has also slated the project, stating: "Research into Lime Down Solar Park Ltd shows that it is owned by Island Green Power, an offshore company registered in the tax haven of Bermuda. "

"To me, it looks like this project is motivated less by environmental concern, and more by raw profit."

"The English countryside is being exploited for financial gain - a corporate wolf dressed up in green clothing."

January Farrington, a spokesperson for Stop Lime Down, believes the process has been "completely developer led" - claiming the site has not been "identified for its suitability for solar as we have been led to believe with National Infrastructure Planning status."

She explained: "This really is a David vs Goliath battle."

"It feels like the rush to achieve net zero is being done at any cost! "

"The developers have simply enticed landowners who have no regard for their neighbours."



"As it happens there are just nine landowners benefiting from this scheme which include the Duke of Beaufort."



"Many have never farmed the land themselves and there will be ten tenant farmers being removed off these sites."

"We fear a degradation of landscape, loss of wildlife habitat, increased flood risk, negative impact on local businesses and tourism, deterioration of mental health and well-being, erosion of cultural values and depreciation of property values will all be felt by the local community."

The campaign group hope to highlight how IGP are Bermunda registered developers, 50 per cent of which are owned by Australian venture capital group Macquarie and the other half owned by billionaires who do not live in the UK.

The campaign group are urging the Government, particularly the Planning Inspectorate who make the final decision, to instead focus on developing solar on more "appropriate locations" - which are not at risk of flooding or decimating wildlife and public footpaths."

They added: "Rather than prioritising the cheapest and most lucrative solutions for developers, we urge the government to focus on the most appropriate locations for solar installations. "

"Rooftop solar on warehouses offers a responsible, efficient, and community-centred approach that avoids jeopardising our agricultural land and ensures a sustainable future for our country."

According to biologist Richard Skeffinton, former professor of Geography and Environmental Science at Reading University, the project is "short sighted", particularly due to taking "prime agricultural land" which is also susceptible to flooding."

He explained: "Storm Bert caused widespread flooding over the area proposed for the Lime Down Solar Park."

He said: "Flooding was extensive even in areas where officially flood risk is in the lowest category. "

"This is an area where it would be easy to increase the frequency and intensity of flooding by inappropriate development."

Sir Mike Pitt, former CEO of the Planning Inspectorate, said the proposed site will result in a "significant loss to the community" worth hundreds of millions, due to a substantial fall in housing prices and environmental damage."

He added: "These schemes are so often put on communities who then face the economic wrath."

"This is the wrong site, the wrong project, the wrong place. It's an appalling, ugly, terrible scheme [that] should never go ahead"."

At its meeting last week Wiltshire Council's Cabinet decided to ''strongly oppose'' the proposed Lime Down Solar Park scheme.

Lime Down Solar Park has been designated as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP), which means the application will be decided by the appropriate Secretary of State, and not Wiltshire Council.

However, the council is a statutory consultee and so as part of the meeting, Cabinet discussed the council's proposed response to the ongoing Lime Down Solar Park statutory consultation, which ends on 19 March.

The council's official consultation response will give a full reply, prepared by the council's technical experts.

While highlighting environmental and economic benefits, this also raises strong concerns about potential environmental damage and disruption to local communities.

In addition, the response asks for additional information in a number of areas and calls upon the developer to carry out a further consultation to give parties the opportunity to comment on additional information later this year.

The response, which will be submitted before the 19 March deadline, will set out the additional points raised by Cabinet, which decided to robustly oppose the proposed development, based on a range of planning concerns.

Cllr Richard Clewer, Leader of Wiltshire Council, said: "Lime Down Solar Park is a vast development of 11 square miles that, if approved, would have a huge effect on a significant part of the county for decades."

"We are not opposed to the principle of the development of solar farms, but we are increasingly concerned at the concentration of solar farms and their associated infrastructure in Wiltshire and at the potential industrialisation of the countryside."

"We will be submitting a formal response to the current Lime Down Solar Park consultation that strongly rejects the proposals for a whole host of planning reasons. Our response also outlines the technical concerns we have about the application and recommends proposed changes."

"The application is also lacking many details - particularly in terms of the cabling, plus ecological and biodiversity impacts - and so it is very difficult for us to establish the full impact of the proposals, as we will need all the details before we can form a complete view on how it will affect the county. It's for this reason that we're requesting a further consultation once this additional detail is known."

"Following the discussion at yesterday's Cabinet meeting, we have agreed to strongly oppose the Lime Down Solar Park development, based on the information presented by the developer in its consultation."

"One of the main planning reasons for opposition is that the site contains 30% of best and most versatile agricultural land, which we would lose if it were to go ahead. This goes against Core Policy 42 of Wiltshire Core Strategy and Core Policy 86 of the new Wiltshire Local Plan, and it is important that we do not lose vital land for food production."

"Another key reason for opposition is the cumulative impact. The proposals go far beyond a reasonable test for cumulative impact because of the loss of farmland, along with the fact that the site is next to the Cotswolds National Landscape and views out from the landscape would be impacted, affecting both local residents and the protected landscape."

"We have several other concerns about this application around noise and the effect on the community, biodiversity, flooding and highways, along with other significant planning reasons to oppose the application, and we will submit these as part of our robust response to the consultation."

"In its current form, this development is deeply flawed, which is why we have agreed to comprehensively oppose it in our official consultation response."

Island Green Power, says they want local residents and wider stakeholders to provide feedback on the project ahead of the close of the second stage of consultation on Wednesday 19 March 2025.

The second stage of consultation on plans for Lime Down Solar Park started on Wednesday 29 January 2025 and is currently running for seven weeks.

Since the start of the consultation, the developer has held eight in person information events at venues located in the local community, and two online webinars.

The developer continues to invite feedback from local communities near the site, as well as those from the wider area, for their views on the updated proposals.

Will Threlfall, Senior Project Development Manager at Island Green Power explained: "We would like to thank everyone who has taken the time to engage with us and attend one of our in-person or online events. In total, we welcomed over 1,110 people to our events and received lots of useful comments and questions."

"It's really important to us that as many people as possible share their thoughts on our proposals for Lime Down Solar Park. "

"We want to make sure that those who live and work in the area have the opportunity to inform and influence the proposals we're developing."

"We have already received a good amount of feedback, but if you haven't yet shared your views there is still time to do so before the consultation closes on 19 March 2025."

"After the consultation closes, we will review all the feedback received and consider it as we continue to refine our proposals so we can finalise and submit an application for development consent to the Planning Inspectorate. We currently anticipate submitting our application in Autumn 2025."