Energy firm wins battery plant appeal

Inspectors say the plans for a battery facility at site at Old Snydale meet new "grey belt" land criteria

An energy company can build a battery storage plant at a farm in West Yorkshire after winning its appeal against a decision to refuse planning permission.

In July, Wakefield Council turned down YLEM Energy's application to install 24 containerised battery units at Cooksland Farm, near Normanton, stating it was inappropriate use of green belt land.

But an appeal by the firm to the Planning Inspectorate argued the site should be redefined as what is known as "grey belt", a category of land including low quality or underused areas within existing green belt land.

An inspector's report agreed the site could be considered grey belt land and said the proposal "would not be inappropriate".

The grey belt concept was introduced by the government last year as part of an overhaul of the planning system designed to free up some green belt areas for development.

The government had previously described the grey belt as "poor quality and ugly areas" on parts of protected land.

'Inevitable disturbance'

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the proposed Battery Energy Storage System on a 2.5 acre (one hectare) site at Old Snydale would harness power from renewable energy sources and then release it back to the National Grid when demand was high.

At least 100 village residents had objected to the plan at the time it was turned down, with 10 public comments of support submitted in favour of the facility.

At that time, councillors were urged to reject the scheme by former Super League referee Ben Thaler, who spoke on behalf of residents opposed to the plan and who told a meeting at Wakefield Town Hall that the application posed "unacceptable risks to public safety, infrastructure and local well-being".

The scheme would also cause "severe and prolonged" disruption, including "road closures, noise pollution and safety concerns", Mr Thaler told the meeting.

Meanwhile, supporters of the scheme said it was "important to embrace new technology to help switch to renewable energy".

Addressing concerns, the inspector said that while a level of noise and disturbance was "inevitable", additional details were to be agreed "through a construction and environmental management plan, prior to any work commencing on site".

A statement previously submitted on behalf of the company said "limited harm to the green belt" was "clearly outweighed by the acute need for renewable energy infrastructure and technology".

An inspector's report published on Friday said: "Taken together, the appeal site can be considered grey belt land and, as such, the proposal would not be inappropriate development in the green belt."

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