Controversial battery site plan is approved
LDRSPlans to develop a battery storage system on a Green Belt site have been approved by councillors.
The application to build the 100MW system off Field Lane in Wilsden got the green light after Bradford Council received 570 objections but 595 letters in support.
Those against the plan had raised the issue of evacuations and toxic fumes if the batteries caught fire.
Planning committee chair Shabir Hussain said such storage applications were a relatively new thing for councillors to understand, but said they had received assurances about the risk of a blaze.
The Manningham Labour politician added: "I've heard concerns about fires, but you can have a fire in your house, a fire in your car."
Objectors to the plan pointed to a fire at a battery storage site in Liverpool in 2020 when the proposal by Net Zero Twenty Three Limited was discussed earlier.
The committee was told that battery storage sites were an important part of the country's shift to green energy.
Electricity generated by solar panels and wind turbines can be stored on such sites until it is needed by the National Grid, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.
The application said the site would be ideal for battery storage due to its proximity to the Bradford West Substation.
Amin Ibrar, area planning manager, told members of the committee the application site was Green Belt land.
But under new government planning rules the site could be re-allocated as "grey belt" – and suitable for development.
He added: "Even if it wasn't grey belt, the benefits of this scheme would mean the development would be acceptable."
West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service had been consulted, and raised some concerns about how crews would access the site in case of a fire, but did not object to the plans.
Bingley Rural Conservative councillor Geoff Winnard said the proposed site was not suitable: "I'm amazed 595 representations have been made in favour of the site – I haven't come across any of them.
"If we approve this are we saying that any Green Belt around Bingley is up for grabs?"
Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.