Solar panels covering nearly five acres of farmland in Wroughton to power a local dairy farm and milk and dairy produce business can be put up.

Berkeley Farm - which not only farms the dairy herd but processes, bottles and sells its own milk locally - was given permission for its plan to use some of its land for a solar farm in order to cut its electricity costs.

The business will be able to put up nearly 1,500 solar panels mounted at an angle on the ground on a field accessed by a track off Swindon Road. The site is behind the recently built housing development behind the main farm buildings, and backs on to Lower Close and Waytes Close.

A resident of Waytes Close, Mr Tucci, spoke to the planning committee at the meeting on Tuesday evening.

He said: “None of us are against green energy, but there are some questions. There is a 200-year-old tree and the plans are for the cabling to be put under the roots of the tree and then through the land owned by the new development to the farm.

“Residents pay for the upkeep of the landscaping on the development, should we not be consulted and agree to the route of the trench and cabling?”

Mr Tucci was also concerned about the privacy for residents. He said: “You can see into my front room from the most heavily trafficked part of the field at the entrance and the section of the field lacks landscaping.”

The noise of the switching gear handling the power generated by the 1,500 panels was also of concern said Mr Tucci.

The committee’s legal advisor told members of the committee that while they may be concerned at the fate of the tree, there was no tree protection order on it, and so that was not deemed to be a tree of significance and merit special protection.

Old Town councillor Jane Milner-Barry noted that the ecologists report to the committee said the proposed landscaping and screening trees to be planted were fast-growing species which would be effective sooner than the 20 years that Mr Tucci suggested they would need.

She added: “I recently visited the Westmill solar farm [near Watchfield near Shrivenham on the A420] and it was lovely, there were larks, buzzards and sheep grazing under the panels, so this site could be used for grazing.”

She proposed that the proposal be approved with the conditions suggested by officers and that was passed unanimously by the committee.