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Allowed4 September 20243341383

Land Adjacent to M5 Motorway, Lowlands Farm, Illey Lane, Halesowen, West Midlands, B62 0HJ

Planning appeal 3341383 at Land Adjacent to M5 Motorway, Lowlands Farm, Illey Lane, Halesowen, West Midlands, B62 0HJ (Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council) was allowed on 4 September 2024 by Inspector Owen A, following a hearing. The main issue, as the Inspector framed it: the degree of harm to the openness of the Green Belt.

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
Postcode
B62 0HJ

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.

What the Inspector cited

Development plan policies
Policy S23Policy S19Policy CSP2Policy CSP4Policy ENV3Policy S6Policy S8Policy S22Policy S7Policy ENV2Policy S13
National Planning Policy Framework
Paragraph 154Paragraph 143Paragraph 209

How the Inspector dealt with each one is set out in the app, in order: the development plan, national policy, housing land supply, other considerations and the planning balance, beside the letter.

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The decision letter

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More decisions in Dudley

The authority’s record since 2016 · every decision in 2024

  1. Dismissed23 October 20266010942
    Land Adj 110 Hagley Road, Halesowen, B63 4RL
  2. Allowed30 July 20266009299
    87-88 Regent House King Street, Dudley, DY2 8PR
  3. Dismissed10 July 20266006635
    27 Sedgley Road, Tipton, Dudley, DY1 4NE
  4. Allowed27 March 20263368014
    Former Kingswinford Youth Centre, High Street, Kingswinford, DY6 8AP
  5. Dismissed9 March 20266001383
    Himley Garden Buildings, Adjacent 19, Maypole Hill, Halesowen, West Midlands, B63 2NZ

The main issues, what decided it, the planning balance and the policies and judgments listed as cited are read from the published letter by Town Planner Pro and are our summary, not the Inspector’s words; the letter itself is the record. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Research, not advice.

In the app this decision sits on the map beside every appeal around it, with its letter to read and the main issues, policies and judgments cited picked out.