Chickerell battery storage proposal rejected by council

Councillors decided the smaller site, south of Coldharbour, presented "too big a risk" if the facility and its lithium batteries ever caught fire

Plans to build a battery storage facility near Weymouth have been rejected for safety reasons.

Dorset Council's planning committee unanimously voted against plans for a 60MW facility in Chickerell.

They ruled it could have implications for an application for a larger site in future and presented "too big a risk" if lithium batteries ever caught fire.

Ward councillor Jean Dunseith told the meeting local residents had been "frightened" by the proposals.

She said: "Were this, or some of the batteries, to go on fire it could not be extinguished by water.

"You can't put it out like that - it has to burn itself out, with the run-off from contaminated water and a toxic cloud from smoke and fumes and dangerous gases being released over almost all of Chickerell and Southill."

During the meeting, councillors said they were also unhappy about a single-track access to the site and raised concerns about how firefighters would supply water to the site in an emergency.

Dorset Council planning officers had argued the facility was in the national interest and would make a significant contribution to climate change, so ought to be approved.

The proposal is one of two battery storage facilities in the area. The other is for a 400MW scheme to the west of the site, which has been under consideration since August 2023 but is still not decided.

Correction 14 March: This article was amended after a previous version wrongly stated the developer was Statera Energy, however this relates to the other battery storage facility plan which has not yet been decided.

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