Decision on battery storage facility deferred

Proposals for a much larger battery storage site nearby, by company Statera, were approved in July

A decision on proposals for a battery storage facility has been deferred for a further look at access to the site.

The planned storage site sits north of an electrical substation in Chickerell, near Weymouth, with the nearest homes 350m away.

Objectors said despite claims that a revised route gave two access points, there was effectively only one, which presented a safety risk.

A nearby larger battery storage site, which feeds electricity to the National Grid, was approved in July last year, where a single access point at Coldharbour was considered acceptable.

Concerns over the site's access for emergency services have been raised by objectors

Councillors were told revised plans were better and safer than a previous application for the same site, which was rejected last year over fire safety and water contamination.

The site lies within a site of Local Landscape Importance with a public right of way alongside the site and National Grid powerlines overhead.

Developers Weymouth Battery Limited said the latest scheme had better fire detection and suppressant methods, fire walls between each block of four storage units and improved biodiversity.

The site would have five large tanks capable of storing 250,000 litres of water available to Dorset and Wiltshire Fire Service.

The scheme has also been slimmed down from 60 to 50MW with a 4m acoustic fence around the perimeter.

'Question of safety'

Kay Kelsall, from the Chickerell Action Group, told Monday's Dorset Council planning committee that despite claims about two access routes firefighters would still have to travel through toxic fumes for 750m before getting to the site.

She told the committee that in the event of a fire from the lithium batteries, 26,000 residents, 11 schools, two hospitals, two GP surgeries, eight camp sites and the police and fire stations would be at risk.

Beaminster councillor Craig Monks said he had heard little to convince him about the suitability of the site with the access proposal as it was.

"There are concerns about the question of safety being met and, from my experiences, I share the same concerns with regard to access," he said.

Councillor Spencer Flower said it would be "a leap of faith" to approve the scheme as it stood and said he was not convinced the benefits outweighed the risks.

Weymouth councillor David Northam said a safety management plan for the site would cover the points of concern, and on that basis he would support the proposal.

The proposal was deferred on the casting vote of the chairman.