®Planning appeal decision
Land South of Electricity Substation, Rawfield Lane, Fairburn, LS25 5JB
construction of a zero-carbon energy storage and management facility including containerised batteries, synchronous condensers and associated infrastructure, access and landscaping
- Authority
- Selby District Council *
- Appeal type
- major · Planning Appeal
- Procedure
- Hearing
- Development
- utilities-energy · Other Major Developments
- Inspector
- Raygen Z
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- the effect of the proposal on the openness of the Green Belt
- the effect of the proposal on the purposes of including land within the Green Belt
- the effect of the proposal on the character and appearance of the area
- would the harm by reason of inappropriateness and any other harm, be clearly outweighed by other considerations so as to amount to the very special circumstances required to justify the proposal
What decided it
The very substantial and time-critical benefits of the scheme in delivering essential grid-balancing energy storage capacity, with an agreed 2024 grid connection and no equivalent alternative available within the required timeframe, clearly outweighed the Green Belt and other harm identified.
The substantial harm from inappropriateness, loss of openness and encroachment on the Green Belt, together with minor harm to character and appearance, was clearly outweighed by the very substantial benefits of the scheme in supporting Net Zero and grid stability targets, amounting to very special circumstances justifying the development.
Framework references: 151, 152, 57
Plan policies cited: Policy ENV1, Policy ENV3, Policy SP18, Policy SP19, Policy SP2, Policy SP3
The main issues and the deciding factor are read from the published letter by Town Planner Pro; the letter itself is the record. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Research, not advice.