Rookery Farm, Granborough, Buckinghamshire, MK18 3NJ

the development of a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS), connected directly to the National Grid, with associated infrastructure including access, drainage and landscaping

Authority: Buckinghamshire Council - Aylesbury Area *
Appeal type: major · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Hearing
Development: utilities-energy · Other Major Developments
Inspector: Plenty B

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

The effect of the proposal on the landscape character and the visual effects of the proposal, taking into consideration cumulative effects
Whether material considerations would be of sufficient magnitude to outweigh any conflict found with the development plan

What decided it

The substantial weight attributed to the national and policy support for renewable energy/BESS infrastructure, combined with significant biodiversity net gain and grid connection benefits, outweighed the moderate landscape and visual harm identified.

The substantial benefits of renewable energy delivery, together with significant weight for biodiversity net gain and the grid connection agreement, were found to outweigh the moderate adverse landscape and visual harm and the resulting conflict with the development plan as a whole.

Framework references: 187

Plan policies cited: Policy C3, Policy BE2, Policy NE4, Policy NE1, Policy NE7, Policy NE2, Policy S5, Policy RC2, Policy RC3, Policy B1

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.