A one-day exhibition on proposals for a second solar farm in the Weald attracted only 50 visitors.

Renewable Connections Ltd held a public consultation event at the North Hall of the Staplehurst Village Centre last week to show its proposals for a solar farm to stretch across 67 acres of agricultural land off Goudhurst Road.

The site is 2km southwest of Staplehurst and around 2km east of Curtisden Green.

The proposal follows hot on the heels of one by Starkraft for a solar farm to cover 187 acres of farmland west of Marden.

The Staplehurst scheme to be known as Mathurst Solar Farm would produce an estimated 18 MW, enough electricity to power 5,000 homes.

The company promised to donate £2,000 per megawatt to local community causes, to be distributed by the parish council, but said this would be a one-off payment not an annual one.

Ed Perrin, the head of development at Renewable Connections said: “We were delighted to welcome 50 attendees to our information event and we thank local residents and elected members for attending."

He said: "It provided an opportunity to showcase our early design proposals for the project, to answer questions, and to receive feedback.

"Since the event we have received around half a dozen written responses on the early design proposals.

"In terms of the next steps, we will review all feedback received and continue with the project design.

"We anticipate hosting a further consultation event later this summer and then submitting a planning application to Maidstone Borough Council in the autumn.”

Villagers can continue to give feedback to the plans online until August 9.

For more information visit here.

The site is crossed by a public right of way which will be retained. Construction is expected to take six months and the solar farm could be operational by 2024, with a working life of around 40 years.

Renewable Connections says that after that time, the land will be returned to agricultural use, and in the meantime it could still be used to graze sheep around the solar panels.

Staplehurst Parish Council said it was glad the company had held a consultation event, but would wait for a formal planning application before commenting.

A second consultation event will be held, again at the North Hall, from 2.30pm to 6.30pm on Tuesday, August 23.