Plan for battery facility near Ashford rejected
Around 500 people had objected to the development
Plans for one of the UK’s largest battery storage facilities have been rejected, much to the delight of campaigners.
More than 500 residents had objected to the bid for the battery energy storage system (BESS) on land at Parsonage Farm, near Brabourne Lees, near Ashford.
Villagers said it would be a significant threat to the natural ecosystem, would damage active farmland and produce noise and light pollution.
They also claimed the development posed risks – particularly in fire and safety, wildlife and biodiversity habitat loss, as well as endangering local children during the construction phase, as lorries would have used narrow pavement-free lanes to access the site.
The proposal was submitted to Ashford Borough Council (ABC) in July by Aardvark EM Ltd on behalf of Greenfield Energy Developments Ltd for a facility covering 10 hectares – the size of about 14 football pitches – near the North Downs Way.
However, developers said only 2.4 hectares (the size of three football pitches) would be built on with additional hedgerows, trees and wildflower grassland also planted.
But now, the plan has been thrown out by planning officers at ABC.
“The proposed development would result in significant adverse effects on landscape character and on visual amenity that would be harmful to the setting, special qualities, distinctive character and tranquillity of the Kent Downs National Landscape,” a notice from the authority said.
Officers also argued that there was “insufficient information” about the management of traffic during the construction.
It comes as, in their original objection, Friends of Brabourne – a local campaign group opposed to the BESS – argued that the developers’ calculations of up to 800 lorry journeys serving the site over the course of the development was an “underestimate”.
Pointing out narrow roads, and the need to construct access tracks, they say in reality there would be another 1,750 lorries needed to build the facility.
As such, signs were erected around the village reading: “1,800 HGVs down this road? Stop the Brabourne BESS” and “Your AONB Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty countryside needs you”.
"“Once our countryside has gone, it’s gone."
Speaking following the decision to reject the proposal, Katy Bravery, a member of Friends of Brabourne, said: “We’re all grateful to ABC’s planners for seeing this destructive scheme for what it is.
“Once our countryside has gone, it’s gone.
“While most agree the need to reduce fossil fuel use, there’s no point doing it in a way that creates just as much local environmental damage, potentially, as climate change.
“The government has to rethink the regulatory framework in which solar and BESS sites fit as this gold-rush to carpet the country in concrete and steel is doing huge damage to the climate change message by putting everyone’s backs up.
“Putting vast industrial plants in precious national landscapes or land that nature or farming needs is not the answer.”
In total 542 objections over the plans were submitted to ABC, with only two in support.
In August, Ashford MP Sojan Joseph (Lab) joined residents visiting the site, and expressed concerns around the proposals.
Writing in to ABC’s planning portal, he said: “The overwhelming concern of the residents is the location of this installation.
“Whilst they accept that there is a need for BESS generally, they do not accept that this is a suitable location for one.”
BESS are designed to capture and store energy generated by renewable sources such as wind and solar, and deploy it into the grid when needed – helping combat inefficiencies in renewable energy sources.
Such infrastructure is “essential to enable a national energy network that relies heavily on renewable energy,” the planning application read.
Speaking after the decision notice, a spokesperson for Greenfield said: “Greenfield believe in the benefits of the proposed project and its contribution to national net zero targets.
“We will be reviewing the decision notice in detail and assessing viable next steps in due course.”
Developers can sometimes appeal to the government’s Planning Inspectorate to have the decisions of local councils overturned if they believe them to have been wrong on planning grounds.