Campaigners fighting proposals to install a major battery energy storage system have claimed a victory after an appeal by the developer was dismissed.
Sky UK Development suffered a knockback last year when its plans for the battery system – commonly referred to as a BESS – was refused by East Devon District Council’s planning committee.
However, the applicant appealed the decision with the Planning Inspectorate, which has now decided to dismiss the appeal, much to the delight of the project’s opponents.
Campaigners from Devon CPRE and the Hawkchurch and Monkton Wyld Action Group said they were “massively relieved”, that the plan for a site close to the Devon-Dorset border had been blocked.
Devon CPRE’s energy spokesperson, Dr Phil Bratby, said it was “fantastic news”.
“This appeal dismissal is a very important decision and represents another victory for people power as it’s the second BESS appeal dismissal in the area this year,” he said.
“The Inspector goes out of her way to cover in great detail the fire and storm risk and the potential of hazardous materials polluting the aquifer used for drinking water.
“For years, Devon CPRE has been highlighting the risks from the hazardous materials that could be released and contaminate the groundwater.”
A key risk highlighted during the planning debate for the proposed BESS revolved around what could happen if one of the battery units caught fire.
The huge amounts of water used in containing such blazes and preventing their spread could mean, opponents claimed, this water running off into a nearby local waterway.
The appeal decision notice states the appellant had put forward revised plans that East Devon hadn’t had put before it. These included an increase in the size of the water tanks, relocation of some of the tanks, the separation distance between pairs of containers being six metres apart, and other alterations.
East Devon opted to withdraw its reasons for refusal as a result, but campaign groups retained their opposition.
And inspector R C Kirby appeared to retain sympathy with concerns about the broader issue in her decision.
“In conclusion, I find that whilst the benefits of the scheme would outweigh the moderate harm that would be caused to the Dorset National Landscape, they are insufficient to outweigh the very substantial, overriding, unacceptable risks in respect of pollution of the water environment, including groundwater in the aquifer and human drinking water, in the event of a fire and storm event, however low the probability of such a risk would be, in conflict with the development plan and the national decision-making policies of the Framework,” she stated in her written decision notice.
“The mitigation proposed would not be effective in ensuring that there would be an acceptable balance between harm and benefit. Accordingly, the proposal is not suitable for its location.”
The appellant stated it believed it would be around eight years before before water used to fight a notional fire at the BESS would reach the drinking water source, but the inspector said there had been “insufficient evidence” to substantiate this.
Proponents of BESS systems highlight their benefits in helping the nation reach its net zero aspirations, notably because they can store energy.
The UK government notes that BESSs use batteries, for example lithium-ion batteries, to store electricity at times when supply is higher than demand.
“They can then later release electricity when it is needed. BESSs are therefore important for “the replacement of fossil fuels with renewable energy”, it states.
During a planning meeting last year where another BESS was being discussed at a nearby Axminster site to the Sky UK Developments one, a campaigner claimed it had taken fire crews 48 hours to fight a BESS fire in the city.
As such, it was claimed BESS sites needed to be able to store potentially millions of litres on site from run-off in the event of a fire, far more than the hundreds of thousands of litres applicants often proposed.
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