Statera BESS

Statera Appeal 25/00013/REF

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FROM GRANBOROUGH PARISH COUNCIL

BUCKINGHAMSHIRE COUNCIL’S STRATEGIC SITES COMMITTEE WILL BE CONSIDERING THE APPLICATION AT ITS MEETING ON 19TH DECEMBER AT 10 AM IN THE OCULUS AT THE COUNCIL OFFICES AT THE GATEWAY, GATEHOUSE ROAD AYLESBURY

THE OFFICER RECOMMENDATION IS FOR APPROVAL

GRANBOROUGH PC WILL BE PRESENT

MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC CAN SPEAK BUT THE RULES LIMIT IT TO 3 MINUTES SHARED. TO SPEAK YOU NEED TO REGISTER BY EMAIL TO ssc.registration@buckinghamshire.gov.uk

NO LATER THAN 10 AM TUESDAY 17TH DECEMBER.

To read the officer’s report go to www.buckinghamshire.gov.uk , click on Planning and Building Control and go to view planning application “Aylesbury Vale” Then enter Rookery Farm Granborough in the box below all. Click on the first application and the on documents. The officer report is dated 12th December.

GPC December 24

PLANNING APPLICATION 23/03875/APP

240909 Response to the amended application available here

Parish Council Original Response available here.

Important update on Statera BESS

Statera has notified the Parish Council that they have amended the current planning application which has been lodged with Buckinghamshire Council and remains undetermined.

Their letter dated 26th July published here summarises these changes and this letter, and the relevant amended plans have now been uploaded onto the Buckinghamshire Council Public Access portal, found on the council website.

What next:

Buckinghamshire Council should notify statutory consultees including Granborough Parish Council of the changes, and we will make a formal response.

These proposed amendments will be discussed at our next public meeting at 7.30 pm in the Village Hall on Tuesday 3rd September.

We also encourage Granborough residents to review the additional information and make comments on the planning application to Buckinghamshire Council, in the usual way.

Statement from Granborough Parish Council

Dear Granborough Resident,

There is a proposal to build a battery storage system in Granborough, which will be connected to the East Claydon electrical substation. It is called the East Claydon Battery Storage Scheme. The company behind the proposal is Statera Energy, who have recently been holding exhibitions of the proposed scheme in the Village Hall and in the Claydons.

The formal planning application was submitted to and published by Buckinghamshire Council on 15th December 2023 as planning application reference number 23/03875/APP. Buckinghamshire are the relevant Local Planning Authority and they will determine the application.

What is the East Claydon Battery Storage Scheme?

Battery storage of electricity is designed to balance the flow of power generated, particularly from ‘renewable’ sources, to our homes and places of work. This is becoming increasingly important as we get to depend more on intermittent renewable generators such as wind farms and solar panels. The power is stored in the batteries when the wind blows and the sun shines and is released when required.

The project is a significant battery storage scheme, with a capacity of 500 Megawatts. It will comprise 888 containers storing the batteries and a range of other structures such as inverters, switchgear and transformers. The site comprises agricultural land extending to some 26 Hectares (equivalent to approximately 35 football pitches) which it will occupy for a period of up to 40 years. The planning application details can be viewed at: https://publicaccess.aylesburyvaledc.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=documents&keyVal=S5JZACCLLEZ00

In addition to this Scheme, there are two potentially further proposals by ‘renewable’ energy companies to extend the number of solar farms and batteries in the Claydon and Granborough area. These are for 65 Hectares around Wings Farm, Granborough, and for 875 Hectares covering, mainly, Claydon Estates land. Both these sites have been subject to Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) screening opinions to establish whether an EIA is required as part of any forthcoming planning application, hence they are not yet planning applications. These may take a while to be submitted as planning applications and in the case of the Claydon Estates land, could take up to 2 years to be submitted due to the fact that this will be determined as a National Strategic Infrastructure Project (NSIP) which will be determined by a separate Government body and not Buckinghamshire Council due to its scale and size. There is also an already-approved solar farm at Tuckey Farm, Winslow.

Parish Council's Public Engagement

QUESTIONNAIRE 18/12/23 TO 15/1/24

A questionnaire was delivered to each home in the village seeking relevant planning considerations relating to the current planning application, to help inform the Parish Council’s response to the local planning authority.

The planners set out the criteria they will and will not consider in forming their response to the application, on their website here.

PUBLIC MEETING 6TH JANUARY

The parish council and the working party held a public meeting on 6th January for villagers to attend. A presentation was delivered, to help villagers understand the application and to provide another opportunity for residents to share their views.

The slides from the meeting are available here.

Statera considered the slides and sent a response to the concerns raised regarding; construction access, substation fire walls, fire safety, and the need for a BESS.

Granborough PC letter (Final) 16012024 East Claydon BESS Fire and Plume Study Rev 2

PARISH COUNCIL MEETING 16TH JANUARY

Notes on the decision for planning application;

Land at Rookery Farm, Granborough, Buckinghamshire MK18 3NJ 23/03875/APP: Development of a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS), connected directly to the national grid with associated infrastructure including access, drainage, and landscaping.

At the meeting held on the 16th January 2024, The Parish Council made a decision on the response to the formal consultation from Buckinghamshire Council on this planning application. The meeting was attended by 9 members of the public and 5 people spoke on the proposal.

None of the ward councillors covering Granborough were present at the meeting.

The chair of the working party set up to assist the Parish Council in this matter read out a summary of the survey results which were accepted until 15th January 2024.

272 responses were received representing approximately 50% of the village population. 230 (85%) were against the proposal and 42 (15%) were in favour of the application, or undecided. A breakdown of the comments was received and referred to the Parish Council for consideration. The summary is available here.

A letter received from Statera on 16th January, following the public meeting held on the 6th January 2024 was read out and covered such matters as construction traffic, substation fire walls, fire safety, size and scale, the need case (frequency response, renewable integration, and capacity market), and finally, agricultural land quality.

In addition, Statera submitted a technical summary of the Fire Safety Study. Both documents are available here:

The Parish Council decided the following:

• To object to the planning application on the following grounds: Excessive scale of the development, Environmental impact, Effect on the existing landscape including visual intrusion, Fire safety, Inappropriate location, Cumulative impact, An inadequate noise assessment of the proposal in relation to the potential impact on the adjacent footpaths.

• Excessive scale of the development,

• Environmental impact,

• Effect on the existing landscape including visual intrusion,

• Fire safety,

• Inappropriate location,

• Cumulative impact,

• An inadequate noise assessment of the proposal in relation to the potential impact on the adjacent footpaths.

• That if Buckinghamshire Council as the Local Planning Authority determining this planning application decide to approve the application, then planning conditions should be imposed covering the following matters: Highways and traffic – only using the haul route at all times except for the 4 abnormal indivisible loads (AILs), as referred to in the planning application No increase later in height of the buildings/structures above that shown on the existing application Landscape improvement to be undertaken in advance of the development and to include mature planting, and a request for the management and finance of the landscaped area to be under separate management and with guaranteed finance, Restriction on working hours and no working at weekends and on bank holidays, Controls on lighting, noise, and acoustic screening of any generators, Vehicles to be able to turn to allow forward movement and to avoid reversing, Wheel wash facilities to be provided before development commences and operated during the entire construction period, Details of the restoration of the site to be submitted, agreed, and carried out in accordance with approved details, Independent verification of Fire Controls.

• Highways and traffic – only using the haul route at all times except for the 4 abnormal indivisible loads (AILs), as referred to in the planning application

• No increase later in height of the buildings/structures above that shown on the existing application

• Landscape improvement to be undertaken in advance of the development and to include mature planting, and a request for the management and finance of the landscaped area to be under separate management and with guaranteed finance,

• Restriction on working hours and no working at weekends and on bank holidays,

• Controls on lighting, noise, and acoustic screening of any generators,

• Vehicles to be able to turn to allow forward movement and to avoid reversing,

• Wheel wash facilities to be provided before development commences and operated during the entire construction period,

• Details of the restoration of the site to be submitted, agreed, and carried out in accordance with approved details,

• Independent verification of Fire Controls.

• That the parish council will ask that the three ward councillors covering Granborough formally request that the application is determined by a planning committee and not under officer delegated powers and seek that it is determined at the North Buckinghamshire Planning Committee

The Parish Council wish to thank everyone for taking the time to complete the survey questionnaire and to also thank the Working Party supporting the Parish Council on this matter.

The full minutes of the meeting are available on the minutes page of this website and full details of the reasons for objecting referred to above, are available here.