Wokingham Borough Council has signed a contract with Equans to build a 43,000-panel solar farm on farmland south of Barkham. The project is expected to power 9,400 homes and generate over £1m income annually for the council. Construction starts in November, with generation expected by September 2027 and full grid connectivity by 2029. The project includes biodiversity measures like walking and cycling links, hundreds of new trees, and about 1,000 fruit trees planted with charity Freely Fruity. The council says the land will return to agricultural use after 25 years. A tenant cattle farmer was asked to leave in 2021 to make way for the development.
