RESIDENTS in a North Somerset village which lies beside the expanding Bristol Airport fear being “boxed in” as a new solar farm is now planned on the other side of it.

A total of 115 hectares of fields stretching from near Redhill towards Goblin Combe could soon be used to generate electricity. But plans to install ground-mounted solar panels have caused concern among neighbours in Redhill and nearby Wrington.

Vonnie Kempster, who has lived in Redhill for the last nine years, said: “It almost goes all the way to the village. The village will see it. They are boxing us in.”

Bristol Airport was given the final go ahead to expand by the High Court last year. North Somerset Council had initially refused planning permission for the expansion on environmental grounds — only for that decision to be overturned by the planning inspectorate in a costly appeal. Campaigners later took the case all the way to the High Court.

Meanwhile the plans for a solar farm are still at an early stage. The applicants, who are not connected with the airport, have submitted a request to North Somerset Council on whether an environmental impact assessment (EIA) will be needed for the work. But four people have lodged objections on the council’s online platform.

But documents submitted with the application insisted that all trees and hedgerows would be retained, with additional planting added to increase biodiversity and “complement and enhance the flora and fauna characteristic of this area.” The solar panels would be decommissioned after 40 years and the site returned to its current state.

A statement submitted with the application said: “The proposed development responds to the government’s support for solar energy by providing a greater renewable energy supply that would reduce carbon emissions and assist in establishing a diversity of energy sources in the UK. The biodiversity of the site would also be significantly improved.

“There is considerable natural screening around the site, provided by the local topography, mature woodland and vegetation along the field boundaries and the hedge line of the field boundaries. The proposed development will include perimeter fencing and landscape planting to screen the proposals and help assimilate into the landscape.”

The panels would be mounted above the ground. A “vertical farm” would also be constructed among the rest of the buildings at Hortswood Farm.