A BATTERY farm on Halesowen Green Belt has been given the go-ahead by the planning inspector on appeal with countryside campaigners calling the decision a "severe blow."

The bid from Anglo Renewables' for a battery energy storage site and substation on land which is part of Lowlands Farm, off Illey Road, next to the M5 motorway, was turned down by planners at Dudley Council last September. 

But now the Planning Inspector has overturned the council's decision and given the controversial application the go-ahead.

A report by the inspector states that the farm would "constitute inappropriate development in the Green Belt" and "would also cause harm to openness and would fail to meet one of the purposes of the Green Belt" but that these concerns were over-ridden by the fact that "low carbon development is a critical national policy which can help to achieve net zero, provide energy security and energy flexibility."

The idyllic spot where the battery plant will go The idyllic spot where the battery plant will go (Image: Roy Burgess)

Mick Freer, of Hales Owen Abbey Trust, who campaigned against the application, said: "The scale of the defeat inflicted by the Planning Inspector’s decision to allow the Battery Energy Storage System development at Lowlands Farm is a severe blow.

"He accepted that the development will damage the Green Belt, but he ruled in favour of the claimed benefits.

"During informal discussions with other parties, after the hearing, there was a consensus that the new Government’s approach to development within the Green Belt is of game-changing significance.

"Before the election it was thought that the appeal would fail, but now the roll of the dice was in the appellant’s favour and so it has proved to be.

"The decision has been made and there are implications for the future as the blight caused by the development will adversely affect neighbouring land."

James Stone, Managing Director at Anglo Renewables, said: “We are delighted that this proposal has been approved, making it the latest renewable energy project we have secured permission for within the UK in order to support the country’s legislated target of reaching Net Zero by 2050.”

The application was thrown out by Dudley Council in September 2023 with planners stating it was an "excessively large and overly prominent and incongruous addition within this sensitive landscape location."

Concerns centred around the proposal being inappropriate for the green belt, the site being within an area of High Historic Landscape Value and that the battery plant would be an eyesore. 

The inspector gave permission for the battery farm to be in place for 40 years, at which point it must be dismantled.

Another appeal from Zero Eleven Limited for a battery farm at Illeybrook Farm on Illey Lane in Halesowen is being considered by the planning inspector.

Mick said: "Does the decision in respect of Lowlands Farm mean that Illey will become a developer’s dream?

"We should not assume so. There are major differences between the Lowlands Farm site and that at Illeybrook Farm, which need to be explained and that is the task we now face.

"So onward and upward as we continue our task of saving Halesowen’s countryside."