Plan for 888 battery shipping containers could ‘devastate’ village’s ‘mental health’

Buckinghamshire villagers have slammed plans for a “devastating” battery energy storage system (BESS) with 888 shipping containers.

More than 200 people have objected to Statera Energy Limited’s proposals to build the 33-hectare site on fields at Rookery Farm off Hogshaw Road in between Granborough and East Claydon.

Local resident Susan Tymms claimed villagers would suffer from the cumulative impacts of the BESS facility and other huge local infrastructure projects like the planned Rosefield Solar Farm next door to the battery plant.

She said it would “undoubtedly affect the mental health of the community, who are already in despair at the mismanagement of these other projects,” adding: “The cumulative effect could be devastating.”

Statera’s plans for the battery plant include “stripping the topsoil” to create flat platforms to accommodate 888 modified shipping containers that will house batteries, all surrounded by a 2.5 m high steel mesh fence.

There will also be 37 inverter houses, seven control rooms, three storage containers, a welfare unit, four fire water storage tanks, a large customer substation with and “extensive landscaping”.

Construction of the battery plant is expected to last up to 18 months and could involve 30 movements of heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) per day.

Once built, it would be operational for up to 40 years and Statera wants to connect it to the National Grid by 2027.

The facility would allow electricity from the grid to be imported and stored at times of low demand or high generation, which could be used at times of higher demand.

Statera argues that the government considers such developments “crucial” to meeting its target of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and that the plant would help keep the National Grid “stable”.

However, there is a huge groundswell of opinion locally that the battery plant would seriously harm the environment and way of life for local communities.

Claydons Solar Action Group says its construction will cause “damage and disruption” to local roads – something Bucks Council admitted this week has happened during the building of the new East West Rail (EWR) line.

The group also says that “views from houses and footpaths will be destroyed and never recover”, while agricultural land will be lost and “cause a permanent adverse impact on ecology and a loss of natural habitats” and that there may be potential noise pollution from cooling fans.

It adds that to present the solar farm as ‘green’ is “disingenuous” due to the “majority” of the energy to be stored at the site coming from “carbon heavy sources”.

Parish councils are also opposed to the plans, including Claydon, which said: “We concur with our colleagues in both Edgcott and Granborough Parish Councils that the excessive scale of the development would be immensely damaging to the amenity of the local area.”

It added: “We have already seen huge tracts of land around us laid waste by HS2 and EWR and despair at the prospect of yet more precious rural land suffering the same fate.”

The deadline to have your say on the plans is Friday 2nd February 2024, 11.59pm. For more details, see the Aylesbury Vale planning portal: https://publicaccess.aylesburyvaledc.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=documents&keyVal=S5JZACCLLEZ00