South Cotswolds MP Roz Savage has expressed serious concerns about the recent acquisition of Island Green Power—the developer behind the proposed 2,200-acre Lime Down solar farm—by Macquarie Asset Management. In a letter to net zero secretary Ed Miliband, Savage described the ownership change as a “matter of economic and environmental security.”
Island Green Power is set to develop a large-scale solar project across six sites near the villages of Hullavington, Stanton St Quintin, Sherston, and Luckington. The project aims to generate 500 megawatts of electricity, enough to power approximately 115,000 homes. However, as the capacity exceeds 50 megawatts, it qualifies as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project, placing final approval authority with Ed Miliband rather than local Wiltshire Council.
The MP’s apprehension stems from Macquarie’s track record. The Australian bank previously owned Thames Water from 2006 to 2017, during which the utility’s debt ballooned from £3.4 billion to £10.8 billion alongside declining service standards and environmental issues, including significant waterway pollution. “Allowing a company linked to widespread toxic pollution and the deterioration of critical utilities to control a major infrastructure project is deeply misguided,” wrote Savage.
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Beyond corporate concerns, the Lime Down proposal itself has been criticized for its environmental impact. The development threatens to industrialize an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and convert valuable agricultural land. It also includes a Battery Energy Storage System located dangerously close to a main railway line, and critics highlight the limited tangible benefits for local communities.
Wiltshire Council opposes the plans, emphasizing the impact on farmland and countryside industrialization as legitimate grounds for refusal.
Island Green Power has outlined its preferred route for a 13-mile cable connecting the solar sites to the National Grid’s Melksham Substation. The cable would be buried underground, running beneath the M4 motorway and the Bristol-to-London railway line, avoiding overhead pylons. The company asserts that the project supports national and regional goals to decarbonize the electricity system and enhance energy security.
MP Savage, a member of the Green Lib Dems parliamentary group, has repeatedly requested meetings with Minister Ed Miliband to discuss these concerns, following initial requests in July 2024 and October 2024 last year.
Should the project receive approval, Island Green Power aims to submit its development application by year’s end and commence construction in 2027.