Land off Chapel Lane, Great Barr, Walsall, WS9 0QU

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

• whether the proposal would be inappropriate development in the Green Belt having regard to the Framework and any relevant development plan policies
• the effect on openness
• the effect on the character and appearance of the area
• the effect on heritage assets
• the effect on the living conditions of residents with particular reference to noise
• the effect on the supply of agricultural land
• whether the harm by reason of inappropriateness, and any other harm would be clearly outweighed by other considerations so as to amount to the very special circumstances required to justify the proposal

What decided it

The significant public benefits of the battery storage facility—particularly its contribution to climate change mitigation and energy security, the absence of alternative sites, and biodiversity net gain—clearly outweighed the limited landscape, heritage and noise harms, whether or not the development was found to be inappropriate in the Green Belt.

Great weight to climate change mitigation/energy security, significant weight to the absence of alternative sites and permanent biodiversity net gain, and limited weight to economic benefits outweighed (and, in the alternative Green Belt scenario, clearly outweighed) the temporary Moderate/Minor adverse landscape and visual effects, the low-level less than substantial harm to heritage assets, and the limited harm to residential amenity from noise.