Fire service weighs in as opponents agree ‘safety not a reason to refuse' contentious battery site plan
Two opposing sides in an upcoming planning appeal battle over a proposed 50MW battery site have agreed that safety is “not a reason for refusal”.
The agreement between Lower Coalmoor BESS Limited and Telford & Wrekin Council means that if a planning inspector allows the development on sloping land near Coalbrookdale, safety matters will be dealt with later.
Councillors on Telford & Wrekin Council’s planning committee had rejected the application close to Buildwas Bank against the ‘balanced’ advice of officers.
Elected councillors considered the plan unacceptable because of land stability, visual intrusion harming the setting of both the Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Site and Severn Gorge Conservation Area.
The applicants, who appealed to the Planning Inspectorate, claim that the refusal was unreasonable and want a planning inspector order the council to pay costs.
The Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service says that there are ‘significant environmental and safety hazards’ linked to battery energy storage systems.
The service has told a planning inspector in advance of an inquiry in Telford on July 2 that “even though there are relatively few recorded fire incidents involving battery energy storage systems, when affected by fire, they pose a significant environmental and safety hazard".
The service says that further measures “may be required to mitigate the risk of fire and the risk posed to the environment in the event of a fire".
"This may include compensatory features to limit the runoff of contaminated water into nearby waterways.”
The planning inspector has also been sent guidance from the National Fire Chiefs Council saying that Battery Energy Storage Systems are a “fundamental part of the UK’s move toward a sustainable energy system.”
They add that there have been a “number of high-profile incidents” and that “learning from these incidents continues to emerge".
Fire chiefs say a comprehensive risk management process is “based on trying to help reduce the risk as far as reasonably practicable, whilst recognising that ultimate responsibility for the safe design and running of these facilities rests with the operator".
Little Wenlock Parish Council has told the planning inspector that it supports “concerns about water use to cool battery storage sites during a fire".
It added: “Contaminated water if allowed to enter the water course will ultimately end up in the River Severn, a source of water for human consumption."
The council adds that the area the site sits in is ‘well known for instability’. It is close to Jiggers Bank which has been the subject of “major stability works”.
The parish also asks for “evidence of more recent borehole cores” after claiming that data provided is from 45 years ago and much has changed since.
Documents provided to the planning inspector in advance of a hearing in Telford on July 2 reveal that Telford & Wrekin Council has proposed several planning conditions if appeal is granted.
The applicants will have to get detailed plans for emergency response and battery safety management approved which cover the “construction, operational and decommissioning phases of the development".
Conditions are being proposed in the “interests of public safety and ecology".
