A RENEWABLE energy company is hoping to build a solar farm in Pamber End.

Solstice Renewables Ltd has asked Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council for a screening opinion for the proposed solar farm on land in Aldermaston Road.

The farm would comprise rows of solar panels of about 2.8metres in hight above ground level, which would generate up to five megawatts of power.

The lifespan of the scheme would be approximately 25 years, after which the structure and underground cabling would be removed and the site restored to its existing use as agricultural land.

Solstice Renewables Ltd has asked the borough council for a screening opinion to see if it needs to submit an environmental impact assessment as part of a planning application.

The 8.9ha-site is adjacent to the eastern side of the A340, west of New Road, and south of the village of Pamber Green.

It is currently a large single agricultural field in arable use.

The application says: “Despite the proximity of residential properties to the site, it is well screened from all but glimpsed views during winter months in the immediate locality.”

The site is close to Silchester and its Roman settlement.

The application says that “further investigative work may be necessary in light of the potential for the site to possess unknown and unrecorded archaeological material linked to its proximity to Silchester.

“The built nature of the proposed solar farm limits its potential intrusive activities, as such it is considered unlikely that it would have significant effect on any buried archaeology that may be present.”