A solar farm on the Gloucestershire/ Worcestershire border has been given planning permission.

The 66.66 hectare site is at Home Farm, Twyning Road in Strensham - with approximately two-thirds of the site within Tewkesbury Borough Council area and a third within Wychavon District Council in Worcestershire.

The application from Northamptonshire Solar 1 Ltd is a joint application to both planning authorities. Tewkesbury Borough Council has given permission, but the application to Wychavon is still pending.

The site is made up of two parcels of land - the main proposed solar farm parcel and a smaller parcel for an electricity substation, connected by a corridor of land to provide a cable route to connect the two. It also includes a cable route from the proposed electricity substation to the National Grid substation on Bourne Road to the north.

The solar farm, consisting of a solar photovoltaic (PV) system (of panels, inverters and transformers), will have a generating capacity of up to 49.99MW.

The solar PV panels will be placed on a single axis tracker mounting structure with a typical overall height not exceeding 3.1m. They will move gradually throughout the day, tracking the sun as it moves from east to west.

The main part of the site, where the solar arrays will be installed, extends to approximately 54 hectares, comprising two rectangular agricultural fields in the north and part of a large irregular shaped agricultural field in the south. The fields are currently used for growing crops.

To ensure the solar farm operates efficiently and effectively, there will be supporting equipment consisting of inverter stations, battery storage containers, spare parts containers and customer station strategically placed around the site.

The development will include a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) to provide a means of storing off-peak energy production and releasing to the Grid in peak demand periods or storing power from the Grid in periods of high supply but low demand.

A new substation will be provided on land accessed from Twyning Road south of Upper Strensham.

The finished solar farm will be capable of dual use farming, with small livestock, such as sheep, able to graze the land between the panels. It will be operational for 40 years, after which it will be removed and the land restored.

Construction of the solar farm is expected to take eight months, with approximately 1,100 HGV deliveries to the site over that period - typically averaging five deliveries per day (10 HGV movements).

Once in full operation, the development will have just 10 to 20 visits a year for security and maintenance.

Natural England has no objections to the plans. It said: "Based on the plans submitted, Natural England considers that the proposed development will not have significant adverse impacts on statutorily protected nature conservation sites."

But Twyning Parish Council was among the organisations which objected to the proposals. It said: "Development must contribute towards the provision, protection enhancement of the wider green infrastructure network.

"Twyning Parish Council would generally support green energy, however not every application should be backed without regard to other factors. We believe that this site is not suitable for multiple reasons."

There were 39 objections from members of the public

One objection said: "We already have a solar farm parallel to Bourne Road which is a blot on our landscape. The infrastructure to the proposed solar farm is inadequate to cope with the large machinery required to create this eyesore and will prove a health and safety hazard for all members of our local community. Whilst I acknowledge the need to combat climate change, there must be more suitable sites with better access."

Another letter said: "This is wanton and unnecessary destruction of the countryside and good quality farming land (and the associated wildlife habits contained therein) which cannot be brought back into use anytime soon, if ever. Food production must take priority over vanity projects.

"I regularly use the footpaths through the proposed site to walk to Twyning. The lovely vistas which I and many others are used to enjoying will be destroyed and replaced with an ugly industrial complex. This loss of amenity is a disgraceful reflection of greed overruling nature's beauty."

Work will need to begin on the development in the next three years.