National-Scale Solar Farm Planned Around Salford Priors, Broom and Bidford

A solar and battery scheme so large that the government, not Stratford-on-Avon District Council, would decide it is being planned on four groups of fields around Salford Priors, Broom, Dunnington and the villages west of Bidford-on-Avon. Arrow Valley Solar’s draft boundary covers about 1,762 hectares, roughly 4,350 acres, including its cable routes, and the developer plans to apply in April 2027.

Where it would go

The developer’s formal notice, lodged with the council (26/02493/NSIPCO), lists four sites:

• Site 1: next to Abbots Morton, Rous Lench, Weethley and Wood Bevington.
• Site 2: next to Broom, Dunnington, Salford Priors and Wixford.
• Site 3: next to Bickmarsh, Cleeve Prior, Dorsington and Pebworth.
• Site 4: next to South Littleton.

Underground cables would link them to the National Grid substation at Feckenham, about 8km north of the nearest site. The scheme also includes battery storage, new 132kV and 400kV substations and temporary haul roads. The project’s website puts it at about 500 megawatts. The company is owned by Island Green Power, which developed the Cottam and West Burton solar projects in Lincolnshire.

What the district council has said

The developer’s public consultation closed on 2 November. The district council’s response, now on the planning register, doesn’t take a position for or against, but it asks for more work on several points:

• Heritage and views: it wants more evidence before Broom Conservation Area and other historic sites are left out of the detailed assessment, and asks for more visualisations.
• Farmland: although the panels would be temporary, it says the effect on soil lasts for the life of the scheme, and wants to see how land would be returned to its previous grade.
• Old quarries and landfill: the area’s history includes infilled quarries, landfill sites and Ragley Quarry, so it wants ground investigations.
• Tourism and jobs: it wants the benefits open to district residents and any harm to tourism and recreation kept to a minimum.

The response also notes that a new parcel of about 25 hectares has been added since the council saw the plans in spring. On highways and ecology, the district defers to Warwickshire County Council.

Who decides, and what happens next

Because the scheme is over 100 megawatts, it counts as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project. The Planning Inspectorate would examine it and the Energy Secretary would make the decision, with the district council consulted as a host authority.

Once an application is accepted, people can register to take part in the examination. Until then, the latest documents are on the project’s website, and you can follow other nearby proposals on our Planning near me map. Salford Priors is also facing a separate plan for 99 homes off School Road.

Details checked on 11 November 2026 using the developer’s Section 46 and 48 notices and programme document and Stratford-on-Avon District Council’s November 2026 consultation response, all on the council’s planning register, and the project’s website. The acres figure is our own conversion. The photo shows farmland near Broom in 2021, and isn’t necessarily part of the site.

Alex Harrington

Alex Harrington grew up in Stratford-upon-Avon and runs What's up, Stratford? as an independent guide to the town.