Plans for a major battery energy storage facility in County Durham have been rejected after hundreds of objections from residents, writes Local Democracy Reporter, Bill Edgar.
REWE 8 Ltd had applied to build a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) on land east of Carrs Farm, South Hetton, comprising 98 battery containers, a high-voltage step-up substation and a 400kV underground cable connection.
Planning documents said the facility would operate for 40 years before being decommissioned and the land restored.
The application sparked widespread opposition, with Durham County Council receiving 696 objection letters, including from the East Durham Action Group, as well as a petition signed by 771 people. One letter of support was submitted.
Residents argued the development conflicted with planning policy and raised concerns over fire safety, toxic emissions, visual impact and the loss of agricultural land.
Objectors also questioned the cumulative impact of energy infrastructure in the area, the consultation process, decommissioning plans and the scheme’s overall carbon footprint.
Speaking against the proposal, Mark Rowney, Reform UK councillor for Murton, described the development as “industrialising” the area.
“It is almost like a feudal barrier being placed around local inhabitants,” he said.
“People have worked hard only for this slap in the face.”
The scheme was also opposed by Grahame Morris MP, the Campaign to Protect Rural England, Hawthorn, Easington Village, Murton and South Hetton parish councils, and Seaham Town Council.
Representing the applicant, Matthew Mortenson said the project’s national energy, economic and environmental benefits outweighed its limited landscape impacts.
“While I fully acknowledge the concerns from residents, the evidence demonstrates that those concerns can be appropriately addressed through mitigation and planning conditions and that the remaining impacts are acceptable in planning terms,” he told a planning committee.
Planning officers recommended approval, concluding that the benefits of the renewable energy infrastructure outweighed any harm.
However, members of Durham County Council’s planning committee disagreed, refusing permission after deciding the damage to the local landscape carried greater weight than the scheme’s benefits.