Plans for a solar farm on the border between Gloucestershire and Worcestershire have been approved by neighbouring councils.

Tewkesbury Borough Council and Wychavon District Council have approved installation of the solar farm, made up of ground mounted solar PV panels with an installed capacity of 35MW including mounting system, inverters, underground cabling, stock proof fence, CCTV, internal tracks and associated infrastructure, landscaping, biodiversity net gain and environmental enhancements for a temporary period of 50 years and a permanent grid connection hub on land in Wormington near Broadway.

The solar arrays will be on approximately 43ha of land entirely within Wychavon district area, while the substation compound will be in Tewkesbury borough area, approximately 4km south, connected to the solar array by underground cables.

Identical planning applications were submitted to both Wychavon District Council and Tewkesbury Borough Council, with Wychavon granting permission in June and Tewkesbury granting permission this week.

The development in Tewkesbury borough will comprise a substation compound of 53m x 40m, transformer and associated equipment up to 6m high, 3m high relay control room, 2.4m high galvanised security palisade fence around substation equipment, new and upgraded existing farm tracks and underground cabling extending north into Wychavon district area to connect to the solar array.

The substation development will be screened by new landscaping and planting.

There were nine public objections to the plans, including the impact of the substation on nearby properties, inadequate landscaping around the substation, loss of agricultural land, risk of flooding and ecological and biodiversity harm.

There were no objections from any local authorities or organisations, apart from Wormington Parish Council.

The parish council said: "Our comments focus exclusively on the siting of the substation which is approximately 400m to the north of College Farm and College Barn. We believe the substation should be located at least a further 200m to the north to a position satisfactory to the landowner, thereby removing the risk of the two family houses being affected by noise from the substation."

Tewkesbury Borough Council declared a Climate Emergency in October 2019. The council supports proposals for generation of renewal energy, as long as the wider environmental, social or economic benefits of a development would not be outweighed by a significant adverse impact on the local environment.