Councillor's request for proper public meeting on Walton Solar Farm refused by developer

ILOS says further consultation "would not be proportionate" as residents prepare questions for September event

A Shropshire county councillor's formal request for a proper public meeting on a proposed 130-acre solar farm at Walton and Onibury has been refused by the developer, who has instead confirmed the community's only opportunity to engage in person will be a single consultation event on 15 September.

Councillor Josh Dickin wrote to ILOS New Energy UK Ltd on 12 August asking the company to consider holding an additional public consultation event, given the scale and significance of the proposal to the communities of Walton, Onibury and Vernolds Common. In a written response, Edward Martin, Land Manager at ILOS, confirmed that the company "does not currently consider that a further public consultation event would be proportionate or necessary," describing an additional round of consultation as "unusual to undertake for a project of this scale and nature."

The Keep Shropshire Beautiful campaign, which formally opposes the 22.2 megawatt development on 130 acres of nature-rich farmland, said the response was disappointing but not entirely surprising.

"We have already documented eight breeding skylark territories, an active barn owl nestbox that has produced fourteen owlets since 2005, and many years of soil records confirming this as Best and Most Versatile agricultural land," a spokesperson for the campaign said. "None of that appears anywhere in ILOS's response to a county councillor asking for a proper opportunity for residents to be heard. That silence speaks for itself."

ILOS's letter details engagement carried out to date, including a presentation to Onibury Parish Council in May, which the campaign notes was not communicated to the wider community by ILOS in advance, unannounced door-to-door visits in July, and a farm visit with tenant farmer Rob Alderson. The company has confirmed the 15 September event will be followed by an online consultation period and, later, a statutory consultation once the full planning application is submitted, expected in November 2026.

The campaign believes a single drop-in consultation event does not constitute meaningful community engagement for a development of this scale and significance. Campaigners are now encouraging residents to submit written questions in advance of the 15 September event to ensure key concerns are properly recorded and put to the developer directly.

Keep Shropshire Beautiful, which has gathered over 2,400 signatures on its online petition, has the formal backing of Stuart Anderson MP, Member of Parliament for South Shropshire, and support from CPRE Shropshire, the Shropshire Barn Owl Group, and local councillors across South Shropshire. The campaign's formal planning objection is currently under review by a senior planning solicitor and includes evidence that the proposed site does not appear within Shropshire Council's own strategic mapping of suitable areas for solar development.

"We are not against renewable energy," the campaign said. "We are against the wrong development in the wrong place, and against a process that does not feel like it is genuinely listening to the community it will affect for the next forty years."

The consultation event takes place on 15 September. Residents wishing to submit questions in advance, or to find out more about the campaign, can visit keepshropshirebeautiful.co.uk.