'Special circumstances' could see council over-ride Rotherham Green Belt rules

However, Rotherham Council’s planning officers argue there are ‘very special circumstances’ to justify the development and have advised that councillors go ahead with the scheme when they meet on Thursday.

That is despite a similar application being rejected in 2017, and an acknowledgement that the current proposals need to be viewed alongside a similar application in the same area for a second unit.

National planning opinion has changed since then, reflecting a growing sense of urgency for the country to meet carbon zero status.

If approved, planners suggest a condition that the technology is removed and the site returned to its current condition after 40 years.

The battery units work by absorbing electricity from the grid at times of low demand, when it would otherwise be wasted, and storing it to feed back in when demand is high and power stations are under pressure.

Plans for the development, in a field at Wickersley, have brought a mixed response, with 101 letters sent to the council in support of the development, on the grounds that it will help the country’s ‘green’ ambitions and create jobs in the area.

But 20 others, including Wickersley Parish Council, have argued the opposite case.

Parish councillors have complained that the development would be inappropriate in the Green Belt and cause the loss of open countryside.

They say it would eat into the open space which separates Wickersley and Thurcroft and that proposed mitigations, creating bunds and installing screening for the site, would be insufficient.

There is a similar storage until elsewhere in the area, with planning permission granted for another unit, they say, arguing that further development should focus on that area.

Council planners reject the applicants argument that the proposal would have a “limited impact” on the openness of the area.

In a report to councillors they say: “The considerable change from rural field to a compact industrial site, together with the adjacent proposal represents an extensive development of an industrial nature” which would be visible from Moat Lane and other areas.

However, the “worst case” visual impact would be “moderate” they say.