®Planning appeal decision
Land South of Wakefield B Substation, And East of Neil Fox Way, Wakefield, WF1 5DB
Planning appeal 3368025 at Land South of Wakefield B Substation, And East of Neil Fox Way, Wakefield, WF1 5DB (Wakefield Metropolitan District Council) was allowed on 2 July 2026 by Inspector Braithwaite J, following an inquiry. The main issue, as the Inspector framed it: the level of harm that would be caused by the principal element of the proposed development to the setting and significance of designated and non-designated heritage assets and to cultural heritage.
construction and operation of a temporary battery energy storage system, formation of an access road, SuDS pond, landscape and ecological enhancements and associated works
- Appeal type
- major · Planning Appeal
- Procedure
- Inquiry
- Development
- utilities-energy · Major general industry/storage/warehousing
- Inspector
- Braithwaite J
- Postcode
- WF1 5DB
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- the level of harm that would be caused by the principal element of the proposed development to the setting and significance of designated and non-designated heritage assets and to cultural heritage
- whether the appeal site is grey belt land and whether the proposed development otherwise complies with national Green Belt policy
- the effect of the principal element of the proposed development on the visual amenity of the landscape
What decided it
The significant weight to be given to the benefits of renewable and low carbon energy generation from the BESS clearly outweighed the Green Belt, heritage, landscape and agricultural land harms, amounting to very special circumstances.
The significant weight afforded to the benefits of the BESS in supporting renewable energy and net zero targets, together with heritage enhancement benefits secured by the s.106 Undertaking, outweighed the harm by reason of inappropriateness to the Green Belt, the low/very low levels of less than substantial heritage harm, the significant (diminishing to moderate) landscape/visual harm, and the temporary loss of BMV land, such that very special circumstances existed and the appeal was allowed.
What the Inspector cited
- Development plan policies
- SP24LP35LP55LP63LP64LP65DES7
- National Planning Policy Framework
- Paragraph 142Paragraph 143Paragraph 153Paragraph 155Paragraph 160Paragraph 161Paragraph 168Paragraph 187Paragraph 212Paragraph 215Paragraph 216
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.
See how each was appliedThe decision letter
Town Planner Pro holds this letter. The Appeals plan opens it and every other letter we hold, all of them searchable, with the main issues and what decided each case picked out. We do not show letters on the free site because they carry people’s names and addresses.
With an account
What an account adds to this decision
More decisions in Wakefield Metropolitan District Council
The authority’s record since 2016 · every decision in 2026
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- Dismissed10 August 20266004277Land At Back Lane, Woolley, Wakefield, WF4 2JT
- Allowed10 July 20266006858Land at, Pontefract Road, Pontefract, WF11 8RJ
- Dismissed30 June 20266005423Land off Lee Moor Lane, Stanley, Wakefield, WF3 4EU
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.