Fairy Hill Solar Farm
A not-for-profit, 2 MWp (megawatt power) solar farm held for and on behalf of the community, with panels on approximately 4.5 acres.
Developed by not-for-profit community business, Bath and West Community Energy (BWCE) in partnership with the local community.
The project has strong community support. Through a community consultation BWCE held in 2021 the project received over 70% in support from 91 residents within the area. The project has been granted planning permission by Bath & North East Somerset Council and construction will begin in Autumn 2025.
Community solar generates clean energy, recycles money back into communities, improves biodiversity, creates new community amenities and enables local people to take greater control over energy, leading to greater local energy security.
Updates
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BWCE would like to thank everyone who attended our online update meeting on the 8th of December. The slides that were presented at the meeting are available to view here.
Construction is progressing ahead of schedule and partially making up for a period of enforced absence from site due to a road closure by Bristol Water. We are confident that both the piling and framework will be complete by the 19th of December, when works will be paused for Christmas.
Construction is scheduled to start up again on the 2nd of February, subject to the Bristol Water works being completed on time. When returning to the site, the solar panels can be installed and the cabling put in place. The next update meeting is planned take place at the end of February or beginning of March, to report on the progress made since returning to site.
The project remains on track to complete construction in April and energise in May.
For a full summary of the meeting, please see our latest update email.
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On 8th December at 6 PM we will have our first update meeting for the Fairy Hill Solar Farm. The meeting will be online, and representatives from BWCE and our contractor will provide an overview of the completed and upcoming construction work. We welcome anyone with an interest in the project, and there will be opportunities to ask questions.
To sign up, please book a free ticket by following this link. On your ticket there will be a link to the online meeting that will be live 30 minutes before the meeting starts.
On 19th December, construction will be put on pause for Christmas and the month of January.
As some of you may know, Bristol Water will be carrying out essential maintenance works in January along Fairy Hill. As a result, we will only be able to restart construction once their works are complete. We are expecting to resume construction in early February. To support Bristol Water completing their works on time, a small area of the solar farm field has been made available to store some equipment.
BWCE would like to thank everyone who has expressed an interest in the separate Steering Group. The Terms of Reference for the Steering Group are available to read here. There is still time to join the group, so if you are interested, please email us on communityrenewables@bwce.coop.
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Following a meeting today between BWCE and the Site Manager it has been agreed that all deliveries will be held off site at a rendez vous point, they will be met by the Site Manager in a vehicle and guided the approved route to site.
A quick reminder we will be hosting our first online project update meeting on 8 December 2025 at 6pm. If you would like a link for this meeting and are not on our mailing list please email - communityrenewables@bwce.coop
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BWCE is aware of a number of Fairy Hill Solar Farm delivery lorries not adhering to the agreed site access route. We know that our contractor had briefed their subcontractor team onsite to inform all external delivery drivers of the requirement to follow the correct route, but this has clearly not happened, for which we sincerely apologise.
We have therefore instructed our contractor to replace the existing subcontractor to ensure that the correct route will be followed from now on. In addition, there will be a permanent site manager representing the main contractor on site from Monday 17th November for the duration of the project and we are in discussion with the contractor on additional measures.
As part of keeping the community up to date, Robin Attwater (taking over from Alex Lockton as BWCE project manager) along with the BWCE community engagement team, will be attending the regular online site progress update meetings. In the meantime, if you have any questions, please do contact us at communityrenewables@bwce.coop or visit https://www.bwce.coop/community-renewables/fairy-hill-solar-farm .
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We’re pleased to share the latest update on the Fairy Hill Solar Project. Due to unforeseen circumstances, the construction start date has been slightly delayed. We are now expecting construction to begin next week, week commencing 10th November.
At BWCE we are committed to keeping the local community informed as the project progresses. To share the latest developments and answer any questions, we’ll be hosting our first Project Update Meeting:
Date: 8th December 2025
Time: 6:00 PM
Location: Online
During the session, we’ll provide an overview of completed and upcoming construction activities, and there will be opportunities to ask questions and raise issues.
If you’d like to join the online meeting on 8 December, please save the date, and we will send out a link closer to the time.
If you have any questions prior to this meeting please email: communityrenewables@bwce.coop
We’re currently finalising the Terms of Reference for the Project Steering Group, and more details will be shared soon with those who have registered their interest. If you haven’t previously registered but would like to be involved, simply contact us on the email address given above to let us know.
We appreciate your engagement and will continue to keep you updated as the project moves forward.
Key benefits
A key benefit of the scheme is the contribution it makes towards Bath & North East Somerset Net Zero targets. B&NES policy CP3 commits to providing 275MW of renewable energy capacity, 110MW of that via electricity production by 2029. Low carbon and renewable energy are also at the heart of the Core Strategy in Objectives 1 and 2.
Carbon savings
Equivalent to 580 homes use per year, Reducing carbon emissions by 508 tonnes of CO2 per year, equivalent to 1,180 people’s average annual emissions from driving (Illustrative figure).
Community amenities
7 acres of new permissive access to the field for local people including features suggested by supporters such as footpath, sensory path, signage and educational information. New native trees and shrubs providing screening and improving ecology, with existing ancient oak and boundaries hedges protected. Landscape and environmental management plan for life of the project.
Improvements to ecology and habitats
Over double what is required for planning including improved grassland, hedgerows, new shrubs and trees, improvements to boundary hedges and new habitats, including bird and bat boxes and two new skylark nests.
Community ownership
Project held for and on behalf of the community by BWCE, financed in part by community shareholders who can receive up to 5% interest on their shares depending on project performance.
Community Benefit Fund
£5,000 per year to reinvest locally, 10-15 times (per MW) more than an equivalent commercial solar scheme
Land use
Continuation of farming with grazing between solar panels. At the end of the 30 year term the field can be restored back to original state.
Information boards
For an overview of BWCE and the Fairy Hill Solar Farm have a look at our information panels. These were produced for a public information event in September 2025.
