Permission for a Battery Energy Storage System at Woodtown refused after objectors mount demonstration.
Devon CPRE and other objectors are jubilant after Torridge District Council’s planning committee have refused to grant permission for a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) and associated infrastructure on 12 acres of land at Woodtown, near the Alverdiscott Substation. Objectors turned out in force with handmade signs and Devon CPRE ‘This is Our Greenland’ placards to make their opposition loud and clear when councillors met earlier today to decide the application, which had been recommended for approval.
Devon CPRE, the only local charity that campaigns to protect Devon’s countryside from inappropriate development, had submitted a strongly worded objection to the planning application, slamming it as ‘misleading and incorrect’ and containing unsupported statements. Furthermore, Devon CPRE said there was no need for the proposed BESS since it would not be connected to the grid for at least 10 years (according to current data from the National Energy System Operator, NESO). We had also expressed its concerns about the growing number of solar and battery applications in a concentrated cluster of development around Alverdiscott – a honeypot for investors seeking to cash in on the ‘solar and battery gold rush’.
Councillors turned down the proposed 99.4MW BESS, along with its associated infrastructure, including at least 50 containers, drainage, cabling, landscaping and access. They voted overwhelmingly to refuse it by 8 votes to 1, with only the Chair of the committee voting to permit it, after deciding that it was in the wrong location and would spoil the Devon countryside.
Devon CPRE joined forces with residents last year to collectively fight any more additions to the solar and battery cluster around Alverdiscott. The charity’s Chairman, Steve Crowther, and Director, Penny Mills, addressed a packed meeting at Alverdiscott Community Hall last autumn, outlining the charity’s concerns about the scale and impact on the local area of more installations. They also spoke about the risk of fire or explosion posed by BESS, which can result in the emission of toxic fumes and heavy metals, affecting both people and the environment.
Commenting on today’s refusal, Devon CPRE’s Penny Mills said, “This is a victory for the people. They said ‘enough is enough’ and councillors listened to them. This growing cluster of solar farms and battery schemes around Alverdiscott and Stony Cross has to stop. We are delighted that councillors have seen sense and voted against their Planning Officer’s recommendations.
“The applicant had claimed that, because the many other renewable energy and infrastructure developments in the surrounding area are never present in the same viewpoint, the cumulative impact is very low. However, this ignored the fact that when travelling around the district, the plethora of installations has become a dominant feature of the landscape.”