Lime Down Solar Park - an industrial-scale complex

The Lime Down Solar Project is a proposed utility-scale solar and battery energy storage development in North Wiltshire. The developer, Island Green Power (IGP), is registered in Bermuda and wholly owned by Macquarie. The proposal includes approximately 749 hectares (1,850 acres) of solar panels, a 1,000MWh battery energy storage system, substations and a 22km cable route to Melksham.

Spanning 3,057 acres (1,237 ha) and stretching across North Wiltshire, wrapping along the ancient Roman Fosse Way and between historic Cotswold villages including Alderton, Luckington, Sherston, Norton, Hullavington, Foxley, Corston, Rodbourne, and Upper Seagry. New underground cabling is to be laid over 22km  to reach the grid at Melksham.

The proposed generating capacity is 500MW. As with all solar developments, actual electricity generation varies considerably according to the time of day, season and weather conditions, and average annual output is significantly lower than peak capacity.

Solar power is an important part of the UK’s future energy mix. It should prioritise rooftops, industrial buildings, brownfield land and previously developed sites. Numerous studies have concluded that the UK has substantial untapped potential for rooftop solar on homes, commercial buildings, warehouses and car parks, reducing the need to develop productive agricultural land.

Lime Down Solar held its statutory consultations and feedback closed on 19 March 2025.  

The Planning Inspectorate cannot consider representations about the merits of a proposed application at the Pre-application stage of the process.

The application to the Planning Inspectorate was made on 19 September 2025 and this was accepted on 17 October 2025 to be examined. 

The Acceptance stage begins when an applicant submits an application for development consent to the Planning Inspectorate. There follows a period of up to 28 days (excluding the date of receipt of the application) for the Planning Inspectorate, on behalf of the Secretary of State, to decide whether or not the application meets the standards required to be  accepted for examination.

At this stage, the public were able to register with the Planning Inspectorate to become an Interested Party by making a Relevant Representation. A Relevant Representation is a summary of a person’s views on an application, made in writing. An Examining Authority is also appointed at the Pre-examination stage, and all Interested Parties will be invited to attend a Preliminary Meeting, run and chaired by the Examining Authority. Although there is no statutory timescale for this stage of the process, it usually takes approximately three months from the Applicant’s formal notification and publicity of an accepted application.

The Planning Inspectorate has up to six months to carry out the examination. During this stage Interested Parties who have registered by making a Relevant Representation are invited to provide more details of their views in writing. Careful consideration is given by the Examining Authority to all the important and relevant matters including the representations of all Interested Parties, any supporting evidence submitted and answers provided to the Examining Authority’s questions set out in writing or posed at hearings.

The Planning Inspectorate must prepare a report on the application to the relevant Secretary of State, including a recommendation (or not), within three months of the close of the six month Examination stage. The relevant Secretary of State then has a further three months to make the decision on whether to grant or refuse development consent.

Once a decision has been issued by the relevant Secretary of State, there is a six week period in which the decision may be challenged in the High Court. This process of legal challenge is known as Judicial Review.