Land to the North of Main Street, Walton upon Trent , DE15 9TY

the installation of a battery energy storage system (BESS), together with substation, transformer stations, site accesses, internal access tracks, security measures, access gates, other ancillary infrastructure, and landscaping and biodiversity enhancements

Authority: South Derbyshire District Council
Appeal type: major · Planning Appeal
Procedure: Written Representations
Development: utilities-energy · Other Major Developments
Inspector: Butcher H

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

The effect of the development on Best and Most Versatile (BMV) agricultural land

What decided it

The appellant sufficiently demonstrated through site selection analysis that no alternative lower-quality agricultural land sites were available within the necessary search radius, and the development would not unduly impact BMV land subject to conditions securing soil protection and restoration.

Framework references: 11

Plan policies cited: Policy SD6, Policy BNE5, Policy BNE4, Policy BNE12, Policy STRA3

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.