Giant battery storage site in Aylesbury Vale called 'terrorist dream' rejected by council

Councillors voted by a majority of seven to two to throw out Statera Energy’s plans for Rookery Farm during a four-hour meeting of the strategic sites committee on Thursday afternoon.

The proposed energy storage facility, which would have been built on 33 hectares of fields, was rejected on the grounds it would harm the landscape and its character.

The application proposed 518 shipping containers housing batteries and 19 inverter buildings, revised down from 888 and 37 respectively following local opposition.

But people living near the land, which is next to the East Claydon substation, also raised concerns about the risk of fires caused by so many batteries placed together.

During the meeting, Statera’s representatives repeatedly sought to allay fire fears, saying the company had liaised with Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service and the site was safe.

But some local residents went so far as to suggest that the site might be vulnerable to explosions and parish councillor Steve Slater warned it may be a ‘terrorist’s dream’ as it may be target for an attack.

He also warned that a fire at Statera’s site might result in an incident on the scale of the Buncefield fuel depot fire in Hemel Hempstead in 2005, which took five days to extinguish and resulted in Europe’s largest ever peacetime explosion.

Under Statera’s plans, a 5.5m wide access track from Hogshaw Road was proposed, with a second emergency access track around the western perimeter of the battery compound.

A 2.5m high security fence would also have been installed around the perimeter of the site, with infrared CCTV also proposed.

The proposed 500MW battery storage system would remain in use for 40 years from the date of operation and provide enough electricity to power 540,000 homes, according to the plans.

During the meeting, the MP for Mid Buckinghamshire Greg Smith warned the site would be ‘devastating’ to the environment and communities, result in a loss of farmland and would be another ‘hideous monster to ravage the countryside’.

He mentioned after the meeting that he believed the saga “was not over yet”. This was perhaps in reference to other major projects up for approval in the area, such as the Claydons Solar Farm.

Statera claimed the site would store excess energy from renewable sources like wind and solar power and was an important project for helping to wean Britain off electricity generated by fossil fuels.

But chairman Councillor Alan Turer told the meeting: “It is a business opportunity rather than providing any green energy.”

Councillor Richard Newcombe suggested the application should be deferred due to the committee having insufficient information to make a decision on it.

However, Councillor Patrick Fealey proposed a motion to refuse the plans, adding: “Its huge. I don’t think that is acceptable to us and I don’t think that is acceptable to our communities.”

Since the application was first submitted in December 2023, almost 900 residents formally objected to the project on the council’s planning portal. An environmental action group spoke out against the site, arguing that nearby villagers had been subjected to many major constructions in recent years with HS2 and East West Rail works.