Agenda and draft minutes

Up to 15 minutes are allowed for public participation.  Participants are restricted to 3 minutes each.

There was no public participation.

i)       Meeting of the Planning Committee held on 9 October 2024, previously circulated.

Cllr I Fleetwood congratulated the Democratic Services Team; he noted that despite staffing changes, the team was forming well, and the previous Planning Committee minutes had been a pleasure to read.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the Planning Committee meeting held on Wednesday, 9 October 2024, be confirmed and signed as an accurate record.

Members may make any declarations of interest at this point but may also make them at any time during the course of the meeting.

Cllr Fleetwood made a non-pecuniary declaration of interest regarding application number 147131, land south of Barfield Lane, Reepham, in his capacity as County Councillor for the Reepham Ward, and Chairman of the County Planning Committee.

Note – the status of Neighbourhood Plans in the District may be found via this link

https://www.west-lindsey.gov.uk/my-services/planning-and-building/neighbourhood-planning/

The Committee heard from the Development Management Team Manager regarding updates to local and national planning policy. He explained some of the key planning headlines from the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s Wednesday 30 October 2024 Autumn Budget. Firstly, the Government had confirmed its intention to respond to the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) consultation by the end of 2024. Secondly, that the Government had pledged £46 million to hire 300 graduates and apprentices for council planning teams and to unblock large sites. Thirdly, it had been revealed that the Planning and Infrastructure Bill was to be introduced early in 2025. He continued, explaining that an additional £5 million to deliver improvements to the planning regime for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs) had been pledged, alongside a £500 million contribution to the Affordable Homes Programme, to deliver up to 5,000 new social and affordable homes.

The Manager outlined that the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero had made a statement on 6 November 2024 extending the decision deadline for the West Burton Solar Project NSIP from 8 November 2024 to 24 January 2025, in order to allow time for necessary public consultation on potential variations to the application. He explained that the Applicant had recently submitted amendments to remove panels within the setting of a medieval deer park at the request of the Secretary of State.

In terms of Neighbourhood Plans, it was explained that the Reepham examination had finished, with the examiner having issued his report to the Parish Council and West Lindsey District Council for fact-checking purposes, as part of the final stage before the report was published. With the regard to the Dunholme Review, the Manager outlined that it had completed its public consultation stage, and the examination process had started. He continued, explaining that Sudbrooke’s Regulation 14 consultation had begun, and would run until 17 November 2024. Similarly, Saxilby with Ingleby’s Regulation 14 consultation had started, with a closing date of 9 December 2024.

Cllr D Dobbie asked whether any support would be provided from the Government to aid in the completion of Neighbourhood Plan Reviews, to which the Manager responded that he would raise the query with the Neighbourhood Planning Officer.

The Committee then gave consideration to the only application on the agenda, number 147131, seeking permission for the construction and operation of a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) including substations, inverters, transformer stations, cabling, fencing, internal service track and landscaping, on land south of Barfield Lane, Reepham.

The Officer presented the Committee with updates to the recommended conditions outlined in the report; she clarified that condition two required the submission of a Battery Safety Management Plan and a Fire Strategy Management Plan. It was recommended to the Committee to change the wording of the condition, to combine the two as part of one document titled ‘Detailed Fire Safety and Battery Management Plan’ to reduce the amount of content repeated across the two statements. She then explained that condition three would also be updated, suggesting that the wording be altered to make it clear it was one document that incorporated both a Construction Management Plan and a Method Statement, which needed to be submitted as part of a condition discharge application.

The Officer proceeded to give a presentation about the application, explaining that it was for the construction and operation of a 53MW Battery Energy Storage System (BESS), and outlining the route to the connection point which would be a pylon at North Greetwell. An overview was given of the location and key features of the proposed development, notably that it was currently an existing agricultural field, and that the sewage works sat west of the site, with the oil refinery to the east. She then brought attention to the contents of the report, reminding Members that it had been conditioned for the final details of the battery containers to be submitted and approved before they were brought to site. The Officer then went on to explain that the legal agreement, which had not yet been signed, would ensure that a secondary access point was in place for use by the fire service in the event of an emergency.

The Chairman thanked the Officer for her presentation and stated that there were two registered speakers; the first speaker, Mr James Cook, as Agent to the Applicant, was invited to address the Committee.

Mr Cook explained that the Government target to decarbonise the power grid by 2030 remained a cornerstone policy to address climate change, energy security, and cost to the consumer. As a result of the policy, he outlined that a predicted increase in electricity capacity demand by 40-60% had been forecast, which would need to be met entirely by renewable energy sources. He then relayed the challenges of generating renewable energy through intermittent power sources, such as grid instability, frequency, and its ability to satisfy demand at times of high need. Battery Storage Systems, it was explained, would be able to solve these issues by storing renewable energy during periods of high generation and low demand, and provide power to the grid in periods of low generation and high demand. Mr Cook outlined other benefits of BESS, namely grid stability  ...  view the full minutes text for item 164.

There are no Determination of Appeals to note.

There were no Determination of Appeals to note.