A SOLAR farm that will generate enough electricity to power 1,200 homes planned for Alderholt has been given the green light by Dorset planners.

East Dorset District Council agreed Good Energy can build a 5MW solar farm at the 11-hectare Crossroads Plantation.

Planners said the scheme would make a valuable contribution towards meeting the county's renewable energy targets.

Good Energy's senior project developer Hugo House said: “Our solar farms are helping to make an important contribution towards Dorset's renewable energy targets.

“The county council has set a target for 15 per cent of the region's energy to be supplied from renewables by 2020 and currently Dorset is only delivering around 2.5 per cent - so there's still a long way to go.

“Our existing solar farm near Wool, and the two at Alderholt and Wareham that have just received planning permission, will really help towards that target. We were very pleased local residents backed our Alderholt project.”

Good Energy's Crossroads solar farm will be built in two fields using 20,000 solar panels on the southern edge of Alderholt. Around 20,000 solar panels will be installed on the 11 hectare site, which is used now as grazing pasture.

Good Energy will plant a green screen to help conceal the solar farm from view and a wildflower meadow will be planted in between the solar panels to provide a habitat for ground nesting birds and pollinating insects.

As part of the scheme, an annual £5,000 is to be spent in the community by local people for the 30-year lifetime of the project. Good Energy has also committed to provide Alderholt village hall and St James' First School with their own solar PV systems.

Construction of the Crossroads solar farm, which will be operational for 30 years and then fully restored to agricultural use, is expected to get under way in February and be completed by July.