A solar farm on 77 hectares at North Dairy Farm, Pulham near Dorchester could provide enough power for 13,000 homes, if approved.

An application for the site comes from British Solar Renewables Energy and could produce up to 50MW of power and displace around 13,000 tonnes of Carbon Dioxide a year, equivalent to 5,800 cars.

Application papers say the site would use 11 farm arable fields between Pulham to the west, Hazelbury Bryan to the east and Mappowder to the south.

A number of public rights of way are in the area with one crossing the site, none of which will need to be closed or diverted, according to the planning paperwork.

The application includes proposals for 33 transformer stations in green metal containers spread throughout the site and a substation with a 132kV transformer and associated buildings including a control room and switching apparatus.

Tracks for maintenance and construction would be built as part of the application and the site ringed by 2.2m security fencing. The majority of existing hedgerows and trees would be kept to help screen the panels and equipment.

The construction phases is estimated at five months with site access via North Dairy Farm with an average of 10-11 two-way vehicles movements per day.

Once completed there would only be an average of one visit a week for maintenance and security.

A virtual consultation for local residents was held in October last year with 500 brochures also sent out to homes and businesses in the area.

Almost 80 per cent of the 75 who submitted feedback forms were against the proposals with 13 in favour. The main concerns were about how the site would look and additional flooding risks.

Hazelbury Bryan Parish Council decided not to object to the proposals after a lengthy discussion although wants to see the size of the site reduced: "It was agreed to support the proposed development provided that the scale and size could be reduced, perhaps by as much as 50 per cent.

"The parish council would also expect full compliance with the biodiversity measures, including planting and maintenance of hedgerows etc, for the life of the scheme and for Dorset Council to have the power and will to take effective enforcement action if necessary," said the consultation response.

Comments on the application, reference number P/FUL/2021/01018, on the Dorset Council website, remain open until June 3.