In a frankly inexplicable turn of events, the third iteration of the planning application (24/01112/FUL) by Sunbury BESS Limited for a Battery Energy Storage System installation off Charlton Lane in Shepperton has been put on the agenda for the Spelthorne BC Planning Committee meeting on 17 September, with a planning officer’s recommendation for approval.

In his 34-page report on the application (available on the SBC planning portal), the planning officer repeats many of the reasons previously given as to why it must be considered as ‘inappropriate development in the Green Belt and is consequently harmful’. But then the report, which unfortunately contains a number of inaccuracies, inconsistencies and contradictions, goes on to claim that this harm is outweighed by ‘the environmental benefits of the proposal in aiding the transition to the delivery of renewable and low carbon energy to mitigate climate change and to aid the transition to increased dependency on renewable energy’.  This is extraordinary! The proposed scheme has been halved in size in terms of its electrical capability compared to the two previous applications that were recommended for refusal, and yet it is now claimed that somehow its contribution to ‘the transition to increased dependency on renewable energy’ has magically increased to the point where the application can be approved; how can this be?

Also unexplained are the Environment Agency and Health and Safety Executive’s lack of objections to the scheme, in spite of the fact that the design is required to allow for a ‘realistic worst-case scenario’ in safety terms, namely a lithium battery ‘thermal runaway’ fire event. For instance, the scheme is required to include onsite storage of 225,000 litres of water, sufficient to fight a fire for an initial two hours – but there is no indication as to what steps would be taken to prevent this water, once used and toxic, from entering the water table.

For these and many other reasons, LOSRA continues to be adamantly opposed to this development, as do the other Residents’ Associations around the site. It is be hoped that councillors on the SBC planning committee will recognise the extent of this opposition and vote against approval. If they do not, then the inhabitants of Charlton Village, Shepperton and Sunbury will surely be regretting that decision for the next 40 years. Residents can apply to attend the planning committee meeting at 7pm on 17 September by contacting This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ; let us hope that sense will prevail!