UK billionaire gets green light for 40-acre solar farm at Wiltshire estate
Hedge fund billionaire Chris Rokos has received approval to build a 40-acre solar farm on his Wiltshire estate. The project aims to provide sustainable energy for his historic Tottenham House, despite local opposition regarding the impact on the protected landscape.
Why it matters
It illustrates the tension between private renewable energy development and the preservation of historic, protected landscapes.
Hedge fund billionaire Chris Rokos has secured planning approval to build a major solar farm on his Savernake Estate in Wiltshire, overcoming objections from neighbours who warned the project could damage the historic landscape around his Grade I-listed mansion, Tottenham House.According to SWNS, representatives of Chris Rokos submitted plans to Wiltshire Council for a solar farm covering around 40 acres of his 4,500-acre Savernake Estate. The project is intended to provide Tottenham House and its surrounding buildings with a more sustainable source of electricity and water.Rokos, who founded hedge fund firm Rokos Capital Management, has been carrying out an extensive renovation of the 100-bedroom Tottenham House in Marlborough, Wiltshire.The planning documents state that the renewable energy project is designed to help secure the estate's “long term and sustainable future” by providing “a sustainable form of power and water to enable its functional operation.”Wiltshire Council has now partially discharged a planning…
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