Inspector backs Trafford battery project on grey belt grounds
The local council has failed to defend its decision to refuse a battery storage scheme in Carrington after the planning inspector decided the site met the criteria for grey belt, Labour’s newly introduced land designation.
As a result, O&G Solar, also known as Voltis, has been granted permission to build a 35MW battery storage facility on a 0.9-acre site at Wild Fowl Farm north of Carrington Lane.
Battery energy storage system facilities store excess energy at times of low demand, and release the energy back to the grid at times of higher demand. They are designed to manage fluctuations in power generation from renewable sources like solar and wind.
Trafford Council had rejected the scheme last August due to the harm it would cause its Green Belt setting and its “detrimental impact on the visual appearance and character of the surrounding area”.
However, planning inspector Gareth Thomas concluded that the site in question fails to meet the criteria for Green Belt and can be classed as grey belt, and allowed the developer’s appeal.
For a site to be classed as grey belt it must be proven that it does not meet one of the following three purposes of the Green Belt as set out in the NPPF.
- To check the unrestricted sprawl of large built-up areas
- To prevent neighbouring towns merging into one another
- To preserve the setting and special character of historic towns
Thomas said the site in question “[is not] important in the preventing the unrestricted sprawl [and] does not make a strong contribution to the purposes of preventing the merging of towns”.
He concluded: “I have found that the proposed development would utilise grey belt land and would not amount to inappropriate development in the Green Belt.”
The introduction of the grey belt designation in the most up-to-date version of the NPPF is aimed at freeing up more land for development into housing.
It is the view of the Labour government, and many within the property industry, that not all land designated as Green Belt serves its intended purpose.
In order to maintain an element of control over what comes forward on grey belt land, Labour has set out a series of golden rules that must be adhered to in order for development to be permitted.
One of them is that 50% affordable provision should be provided within grey belt housing schemes. However, in the case of Voltis’ battery storage scheme, this does not apply.
In his report, the inspector added that Voltis’ development would align with Trafford Council’s own aims around sustainability.
“There is no dispute that the development would align with the ambitions of the Council to become a carbon neutral authority and with those of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority as it strives to decarbonise the region,” he said.
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Great result for the ADAS Planning Manchester team – another big approval for our clients Voltis
By Evan Williams
The council stated that the development would have a “detrimental impact on the visual appearance and character of the surrounding area”. What character does the area have other than being a scrapyard? A bonkers decision by the Council..
By Anonymous
Glad you are happy shilling for your overlords Evan, local residents are not but hey, like we care…
By Anonymous
You can’t be serious
By Anonymous
Excellent 👌
By Balcony Warrior 🪖
Local residents expect energy resilience to apparate apparently.
By Anonymous
At last common sense rules. In my life-long experience, decision-makers make daft decisions, they do so not because they are daft, but because they are smart: it is in tbeir own best interest to do so, otherwise they would not act daft.
By Anonymous
‘What character does the area have other than being a scrapyard? A bonkers decision by the Council’ – if you’d actually bothered to read the report you’d understand that the current scrapyard is an unauthorised development. The authorised use is former landfill which had been covered in vegetation.
By Anonymous
“The council stated that the development would have a “detrimental impact on the visual appearance and character of the surrounding area”. What character does the area have other than being a scrapyard?”
FYI the LPA assessed the application against the site’s lawful use as former landfill which had been partly covered by trees over time, not against the unauthorised storage use.
By Anonymous
Your short summary of what amounts to grey belt is wrong. To be grey belt land has to not contribute strongly to one or more of those purposes.
By Anonymous
We don’t want it around here
By Anonymous
Not one comment about the hazard of such an installation, if this goes up in smoke, can the fire brigade deal with it, hydrogen fluoride gas, just research that, effects on humans, and anything living. Evacuation of homes businesses. Look at the US for a battery unit that went up in smoke, and then wind direction.
By Anonymous
Read the application documents and you will see that fire risk is amply covered, the fire brigade is happy, and nobody objected.
So “we don’t want it here” is clearly no from there, or you would have objected
By Anonymous