Those who have been following the saga of the Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) being proposed for Green Belt land in Sunbury will recall LOSRA’s update article from 19 March on our concerns around Spelthorne BC’s assessment that the application did not require the provision of an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). Since then a number of new documents have appeared on the application website. These include not just a new EIA Screening Assessment by SBC, but also a ‘PDAS Update Note’ and a ‘Response to Residents Associations’ by the Applicant. SBC has also posted an intriguing consultee response dated 12 February from the Surrey Fire & Rescue Service.
The Standard Consultation Expiry Date was also extended, to the 3 rd May, but we understand that comments will continue to be accepted until the application is decided.
We have also recently had confirmation that the BESS application (24/00017/FUL) has been called in by one of the ward councillors and will therefore be going to a SBC Planning Committee meeting in due course. It is of course only right that this unprecedented (for SBC, at least) scheme should be fully understood and assessed by councillors of the several wards that would be adversely affected by such a very large industrial installation on Green Belt land.
In the meantime we have studied the new documents noted above. As LOSRA we will be posting our comments onto the SBC planning website and we would encourage other residents who feel strongly about this proposal to do likewise, even if they are one of the 271 objectors out of the 278 who have previously submitted comments.
LOSRA’s latest views are included in an article that can be found here
