A major Devon business park is preparing to resubmit a plan for a host of electric vehicle (EV) chargers after its proposals were knocked back at appeal.
reendale Business Park had sought to install 30 EV chargers alongside a pair of HGV filling station points and a battery farm on land next to the main A3052 Sidmouth Road, but the scheme was blocked by the Planning Inspectorate.
The plans, which involve using some of the power required from a nearby anaerobic digestion (AD) plant and solar panels, were taken to appeal by the business after East Devon District Council refused them last year.
While planning inspector Matthew Jones supported the notion of EV chargers, and backed the proposed location, concerns were raised about the batteries that would be required on site, and specifically the wider infrastructure related to them.
Fires at so-called battery energy storage systems, or BESS sites, are “rare”, Mr Jones stated in his report, but he noted that wide-ranging infrastructure is required to contain any water that may need to be used if a fire broke out and had to be tackled.
Even though the strategy for tackling BESS fires is to cool adjacent batteries to prevent them from alighting, rather than tackling the one on fire, there is the potential for water used in that process to become contaminated and infiltrate water systems.
“This is a risk that appears to exist regardless of the relative scale of the BESS in question,” Mr Jones said.
“It follows that, whilst the risk of fire would be low and the risk of firewater becoming contaminated could be very low, the consequences of such would still be potentially significant to human health.”
Mr Jones also complained about a “dearth of site-specific evidence” in relation to the management of fire water.
“I would expect, at the least, for a drawing to indicate the likely, or worst case, size and location of any underground tank or pipe/channel containment system, and how it would interact with other elements of the proposed layout,” he said.
“The containment water storage, in whatever form it would take, would need to cater for the volume of water that may have to be stored to support adequate firefighting, which I understand amounts to some 180,000 litres.
“Without even basic details, it is not clear where this additional and potentially significant infrastructure would or could be located.”
Mr Jones was, however, supportive of the proposed location of the charging site, next to the A3052 but away from the main business park and not at the Greendale Farm Shop.
“Given also the industrial hustle and bustle of the business park, it would not be an appropriate location for the public to charge their vehicles,” he said.
“The Greendale Farm Shop car park caters for the visiting public, including families with children, and strikes me as an equally inappropriate site for the parking, turning and charging of HGVs.
“Given these two discrete groups of end users, it is difficult to identify a better practical location for the charging facility than the appeal site.”
Mr Jones also noted the scheme had been designed with “no comfort facilities”, such as toilets, rest areas, or places to buy refreshments. He noted that a scheme in Whimple had acknowledged the lack of such amenities would be a “barrier” to their use.
A spokesperson for Greendale Business Park said the comments by the inspector would be taken onboard and incorporated into an updated proposal.
“We are looking at a new submission and it will incorporate the helpful comments made by the inspector,” the spokesperson said.
“We will be looking to move forward with an updated scheme as soon as possible.”
The spokesperson added various options were being considered regarding a potential battery facility for the scheme, but no decisions had been made yet.
“The inspector’s report is helpful as it clearly states the location is the right one at the entrance to the business park from the A3052, in a field looking towards the farm shop,” the spokesperson added.
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