A fresh public meeting is to be held to oppose plans to build a huge solar farm on green belt land near Doncaster – on a site that includes a historic Roman villa.

Residents in the Conisbrough area are fiercely opposed to propsals to build the farm in an area known as Conisbrough Parks – which sits adjacent to the villages of Clifton, Micklebring, Firsby, Ravenfield, and Braithwell.

The meeting will be held on Monday 8 September from 6.30pm (for a 7pm start) at Conisbrough Community Ivanhoe Centre in Gardens Lane

The gathering is prior to developer Green Nation’s statutory consultation which is set to start in early October.

Residents are opposed to the solar farm plan which would be built on the site of an historic Roman villa.

placeholder image — Residents are opposed to the solar farm plan which would be built on the site of an historic Roman villa.

The meeting is open to all and will deliver an update on the campaign, what having a solar farm in the area could entail as well as an informal Q&A session.

Save Our Greenbelt spokesperson Phillip Knight said: “The way Green Nation have handled this has been poor.

"At the initial consultations they couldn’t or wouldn't share details – it seemed more like they were going through motions and using this more on an exercise to gather intelligence from the community rather than them being transparent.

"When we have tried to engage and find out more Green Nation have said they can’t say anything, stating they are still sorting things out.”

On 16 August, a protest walk took place, attracting hundreds of people.

He added: “It shows the strength of feeling and opposition is strong, we are now holding this public meeting to help inform and to assist people in objecting.”

Earlier this year, Historic England formally designated the Roman Villa at Conisbrough Parks as a Scheduled Monument—one of only a handful ever identified in Yorkshire.

It is described as: “Undoubtedly one of the best surviving and most important sites in the region dating to this period."

He added: “At the very least, this significant site should trigger a reassessment of Whitestone One’s viability, with full consideration of how construction, heavy infrastructure, and associated works could harm the setting, fabric, and long-term preservation of the site.” Local elected representatives have also been invited to attend the meeting.