Supporters of the Stop Botley West group have shown their opposition to plans to install solar panels less than 200 meters from the memorial at St Martin’s Cemetery in Bladon.
A number of protesters then marched along the local paths that bordered fields full of solar panels.
(Image: Stop Botley West) Photovolt Development Partners (PVDP) are established to submit an application for a development consent order for Botley West Solar Farm in early November.
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It covers a total of 3,200 hectares of mainly greenbelt land owned by Blenheim, which stretches for 11 kilometers from end to end and about 15 villages from Woodstock in the north to Botley in the south.
PVDP said it would generate enough electricity to power up to 330,000 homes.
Professor Alex Rogers, chairman of the Stop Botley West group, said: “Churchill had a great affection for the Blenheim estate and the surrounding countryside, and many Bladon residents we spoke to believe he would turn in his grave s He knew that his estate could be abandoned for an unsustainable profit.
He added: “Local people are rightly concerned that if the Botley West proposal goes ahead, the panel fields would come close to the edge of a children’s play area and the back of houses, as well as swallowing up the local trails north of Bladon.”
According to an assessment by the group “about 25 kilometers” of paths in the northern, central and southern sections of the proposed site will be “negatively affected with walkers having to walk next to or between hectares of solar panels”.
Oxfordshire County Council responded to the plans last month, listing a number of areas that would require “considerable improvement” before PVDP submits its DCO application.
West Oxfordshire District Council said there were “multiple areas of concern”, including the impact it would have on the landscape.
PVDP said they were “confident that no panel would be visible” from Churchill’s grave which is surrounded by a walled cemetery, and then a house and woods.
No concerns were raised during the consultation about the panels’ proximity to Churchill’s grave, they said.
They added that they are “continuing to work closely with all relevant experts and authorities and we are confident that the project will not in any way be detrimental to access or heritage of the domain”.
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PVDP said The project will provide 2 km of new cycle paths and 40 km of the current road surface will be upgraded.
A spokesman said: “No paths will be disturbed or obstructed.
“We would reiterate that PVDP has worked hard to ensure that any visual impact will be extremely rare.
“The dimensions and visibility of the proposed site have been fully considered and scrutinized by the local planning authority in order to ensure that the impact on the visual landscape of the area is minimised.”
