Land At Westfield Road, Carlton, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS26 0SJ

the installation, operation, and decommissioning of a of a 50MW Battery Energy Storage System and associated infrastructure

Authority: Leeds City Council
Appeal type: minor · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Inquiry
Development: utilities-energy · Other minor developments
Inspector: Kirby R

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

the effect of the proposal on the character and appearance of the area
whether the appeal site is grey belt land and whether the proposal would be inappropriate development in the Green Belt having regard to the Framework and any relevant development plan policies

What decided it

The significant weight attributable to the proposal's contribution to renewable/low carbon energy and net zero objectives, combined with the finding that the site was grey belt land and the proposal was not inappropriate development in the Green Belt, outweighed the moderate harm to character and appearance.

the moderate harm to character and appearance and conflict with the development plan as a whole was outweighed by the significant benefits of renewable energy generation and net zero contribution together with the considerable biodiversity net gain, such that planning permission should be granted

Framework references: 102, 110, 115, 143, 154, 155, 160, 161, 168, 187

Plan policies cited: UDP Policy N37A, UDP Policy GP5, UDP Policy N24, CS Policy P10, CS Policy P12, UDP Policy LD1, UDP Policy N25, UDP Policy N33

Judgments cited: Holborn Studios Ltd v The Council of the London Borough of Hackney [2017] EWHC 2823 (Admin)

Read the decision letter on the Inspectorate’s site

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.

What an account adds

Draw a red line around your site and the appraisal follows.

Heritage. Listed buildings by grade and distance, conservation areas, scheduled monuments, registered parks and gardens, heritage at risk.
Landscape and environment. Green belt, national parks and national landscapes, SSSIs, ancient woodland, SPA, SAC and Ramsar sites, nutrient catchments.
Flooding. Flood zones 2 and 3, surface water, and both again with climate change.
Transport. The 800 metre station catchment and service frequency, bus stops with their weekday frequency, the cycle network, and the Framework’s transport tests measured for the site.

Then the development plan position, the housing land supply as an Inspector last accepted it, and every appeal decided around the site with its letter.

Every English appeal since 2016, with the letter behind it wherever the Inspectorate published one. Searched by meaning as well as by words, with the key case law counted live across the letters.

Casework that chases the deadlines. Applications, appeals and conditions with their statutory dates.

The judgement stays yours. The tool gathers the material and dates it.