The site |
Location plan |
The proposed facility would be a "major development" under the Development Management Procedure (England) Order 2015 because the sum of the total number of units would exceed 1,000 sq m. The area a Site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation. Granting the planning application would also violate BS 42020, NPPF, the London Plan and the Barnet Local Plan according to the Wildlife Trust. Section 5 mentions that the closest nature reserve is Totteridge Fields which is 2.2 km away. Darlands Nature Reserve has been omitted. It is only 700m away. Further paragraph 5.2.4 reads 'No aquatic habitat is present within the Site or surrounding land, and no ponds are present within 250m of the Site', yet Folly Brook is 150m away and Darlands Lake is 750m away. This proposal will result in the loss of 0.49 ha of grassland habitat equal to 6% of the nature reserve area (not 0.28% as the ecologist has stated) .The proposed security fencing will connect to the existing substation compound & proposed power facility to the east creating a barrier across much of the nature reserve, fragmenting habitats, damaging ecological networks and hindering terrestrial wildlife movements so vital to their feeding and breeding. The ecological survey fails to identify the importance of this habitat. The secluded habitat attracts over wintering birds such as Woodcock (Red List), Snipe (Amber list), Jack Snipe, Common Gull (Amber list) and flocks of Fieldfare & Redwing (both red list). Noise, heat & light disturbance from the plant and auxiliary equipment will result in the loss of these threatened species. Grass snake, adders & slow worms are found here but no measures are proposed to protect them from harm. Proposed ecological mitigations are inadequate & will not address the likely impacts on the reserve or the wider Folly Brook valley. There will be significant biodiversity net loss contrary to NPPF & Barnet Policy DM16.
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***** Update
I was given this information by my brother, who is a chartered electrical engineer. I would suggest that further research is urgently needed
Roger, Large battery storage is normally put away from brownfield urban areas because of the large concentrated energy stored which can cause toxic fumes, or even explosions if it catches fire. The best place is near wind farms as they are mainly used to smooth their energy flow. Generally battery storage is quiet though, so the noise argument is thin. I agree it seems an odd place to put it, a much better place would be on one of the coastal decommissioned nuclear plants where power connections already exist. Good luck with the campaign.
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