PLANS to create a solar farm on the outskirts of Basingstoke have gone on show to the public.

Belectric UK organised the exhibition at Hatch Warren Community Centre to showcase its proposals for the site at Manor Farm, in Farleigh Lane, Farleigh Wallop.

The farm would generate enough clean energy to power more than 5,500 homes.

Members of Belectric UK development and planning team were on hand to discuss the plans and listen to views from the local community and other interest groups.

The plans are still at the interim stage in the design process, but Belectric hopes to submit a planning application to Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council in the coming weeks.

The proposed solar farm would generate up to 19MW of electricity using photovoltaic panels that convert sunlight directly into electricity, saving around 277,400 tons of CO2 over its 25-year lifetime.

Raoul Tufnell, development and planning manager for Belectric UK, said: “We were pleased to invite residents to come and see first-hand our plans for a solar farm at Manor farm in Farleigh Wallop. We want to work with the local community to develop an appropriate design and we are keen to hear people’s views.

“We believe it is important to develop a solar project that Basingstoke and surrounding communities can be proud of, and we’re committed to working with the local community and to raising awareness of solar technology and its benefits.”

The solar farm site is 52 hectares, but only 12 hectares of this would actually be covered by the panels.

Belectric said there could be opportunities to utilise the surrounding space to bring biodiversity and landscape enhancements to the site.

The company also plans to offer a bonds investment opportunity for the project, designed to deliver the majority of the financial returns to the local community.

Mr Tufnell added: “This project is an exciting opportunity to bring net-positive environmental, financial and societal benefits to the site and the local community.”

Anyone interested in sharing their comments about the proposals with Belectric can contact them on 01895 452 640 for a questionnaire or email info@belectric.co.uk