®Planning appeal decision
Land adjacent to M5 motorway, Lowlands Farm, Illey Lane, Halesowen, West Midlands, B62 0HJ
provision of battery energy storage, substation compound with associated infrastructure, fencing, access road, drainage and landscaping
- Authority
- Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council
- Appeal type
- major · Planning Appeal
- Procedure
- Hearing
- Development
- utilities-energy · Major general industry/storage/warehousing
- Inspector
- Owen A
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- the degree of harm to the openness of the Green Belt
- the effect on the character and appearance of the area including the Area of High Historic Landscape Value (AHHLV)
- would the harms to the Green Belt, and any other harms, be clearly outweighed by other considerations so as to amount to the very special circumstances required to justify the development
What decided it
The significant weight given to the critical national policy status of the low carbon battery storage development, alongside biodiversity net gain and other benefits, clearly outweighed the substantial Green Belt harm, establishing very special circumstances.
The substantial harm to Green Belt openness and modest harm to character and appearance were clearly outweighed by the significant weight given to energy security, flexibility and net zero benefits, together with biodiversity net gain and modest economic benefits, amounting to very special circumstances justifying the development.
Framework references: 154, 143, 209
Plan policies cited: Policy S23, Policy S19, Policy CSP2, Policy CSP4, Policy ENV3, Policy S6, Policy S8, Policy S22, Policy S7, Policy ENV2, Policy S13
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.