Always on
This project successfully funded on 7th July 2025, you can still support them with a donation.
PPLAN - Preserving Powick Landscape and Nature
Worcester, Worcestershire, United Kingdom
Aim
PPLAN's aim was to prevent the Monksfield Solar Farm development. Our website remains live for the benefit of other similar campaigns.
PPLAN was created by local residents to help Preserve Powick Landscape and Nature for the benefits of current and future residents, visitors and local wildlife. We successfully fought the proposed development of an industrial scale solar complex within the setting of the Malvern Hills adjacent to the villages of Powick, Bastonford and Leigh Sinton.
This page has been updated so that others can use it as a template for fundraising for their own campaigns should they wish. The limited funds remaining will be used to support our website for a further year for the same purpose or longer if deemed worthwhile.
Any further donations received / remaining funds after that will be used to enhance biodiversity in the local area delivering projects in liaison with local parish councils.
Your donations helped fund initiatives to combat this development, including:
- Website creation and maintenance
- Banners on the busy and main A449 Worcester to Malvern road which would have been subject to 14 months of roadworks during construction
- Professional consultants to challenge the biased documents submitted by the applicant in its planning application - specifically in relation to Highway Safety and Congestion.
The German developer (see below) is a multi-billion euro company with deep pockets. We needed professional support to combat what was one of the biggest, if not the biggest, planning application to go before Malvern Hills District Council (MHDC) and which could compromise the local countryside for generations to come. We were concerned that despite MHDC officers' best efforts, they do not have the capacity to properly assess this application and may bow to pressure from current national agendas.
The proposed development was for solar panels and battery energy storage systems covering an area in excess of 270 acres, almost 200 football pitches. Full details can still be found on the Malvern Hills District Council planning portal.
The planning application was opposed by the Malvern Hills National Landscape and Malvern Hills Trust who have concerns that it will blight the setting of and views from the Malvern Hills, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, as shown in the photo below:
This scheme was just one of several proposed in this setting - your donation can help nip the systematic destruction of this iconic countryside in the bud, as other developers will see that this type of scheme will not get approved in this setting.
In addition to the concerns raised by these organisations, we have the following concerns:
- Roadworks on A449 will create gridlock for people commuting and going about their daily lives and potential loss of life and injury through:
- delays to emergency services reaching patients and victims
- road traffic accidents on diversionary roads unable to handle the volume of traffic
- Fire risk - there were at least 3 fires in the UK in 2025 involving Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) similar to that proposed at Monksfield Farm
- BESS fires can cause thermal runaway resulting in toxic vapour clouds (which can in turn lead to life changing health conditions) and permanent contamination of land and water supplies
- The developer chose to ignore fire service recommendations in its safety plans
- Noise - piledriving audible from several hundred metres would have gone on for 12 hours per day, 7 days per week for at least a year
- listen here (unmute the sound in top right of the video)
- Loss of landscape amenity - several public footpaths and viewpoints used regularly by local residents would have been compromised, with 2.8m high solar panels and security fencing destroying views towards the Malvern Hills
- Impact on local wildlife including birds, bats, deer etc and the rare white-clawed crayfish
The company behind the development is the German giant RWE. Despite the fluffy green image presented in it's brochures, this is the same RWE that has sued governments for losses sustained due to climate change policies, and destroys ancient forests to enable its opencast mining of brown coal. For further information on RWE's greenwashing credentials see click here.
Funding method
Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made