The Bromsgrove District Council Planning Committee is scheduled to meet on Thursday 9th October 2025. The committee will be considering planning applications for a Battery Energy Storage System and for outline planning permission for two dwellings, as well as reviewing planning performance data from the first quarter of the year. The meeting will also confirm the accuracy of the minutes from previous meetings held on 29th July and 7th August 2025.

Battery Energy Storage System

The committee will be considering planning application 24/00960/FUL from Mr George Watson of Grenergy Renewables UK for a proposed Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) and associated infrastructure on land off Illey Lane in Hunnington.

This application was previously deferred at the 29 July 2025 Planning Committee meeting to address comments raised by the Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service (HWFRS). The committee report has been updated with new comments from HWFRS and other consultees, along with a revised section regarding Fire Risk and Fire Water Management and relevant planning conditions agreed between the Local Planning Authority (LPA) and HWFRS.

The proposed development would include:

• 60 battery units
• 20 power stations
• A 132kV substation
• Switchgear
• A monitoring room/office
• An auxiliary transformer
• A DNO control room building
• CCTV cameras

The battery units would be laid out in 5 rows of 12, with 2 sets of power stations in each row. The facility would connect to the Kitwell Substation via underground cabling.

According to the report, the applicant, Grenergy Renewables UK Ltd, is an Independent Power Producer that designs, develops, implements, and operates renewable energy plants on a large scale across the globe.

The planning report notes that there are two similar BESS developments that have been allowed on appeal in the vicinity of the application site:

• Land at Illeybrook Farm, Illey Lane
• Land at Lowlands Farm, Illey Lane, Halesowen

The planning report notes objections from Dudley Metropolitan Council on the grounds of:

• The development's impact on the Illey and Lapal Area of High Historic Landscape Value, a non-designated heritage asset.
• The impact on designated heritage assets within Dudley's Borough boundary, including the Leasowes Registered Park and Garden and Halesowen Abbey.
• The cumulative impact of BESS developments within the wider Green Belt.
• Highway safety implications.

Hunnington Parish Council has also submitted objections, raising concerns about cumulative impacts, Green Belt status, harm to the Green Belt, wildlife impact, noise pollution, fire and toxic risk, flood and pollution risk, cyber and terrorist threat, operational impact, and the financial status of Grenergy Renewables.

Despite these objections, the planning officer's report concludes that the development is acceptable in principle, stating that it would provide renewable energy infrastructure and biodiversity net gain enhancements on site. The report recommends that planning permission be granted subject to conditions.

The planning report notes that the Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service initially sought further information and clarification on a number of matters, including water supply and fire suppression, site access and roadways, container separation distances, vapour cloud, explosion & deflagration risk, operation response, water contamination, and testing & design evidence. However, following additional consultation with the applicant and planning authority, HWFRS has reviewed the revised documentation submitted and is now satisfied with the proposals, subject to the inclusion of certain conditions.

One proposed condition states:

Prior to the commencement of any above ground works pursuant to the development permitted, a detail site layout plan shall be submitted and approved in writing by the Local Authority and Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service. The approved scheme will require two access points, with appropriate turning and passing laybys, adjacent to site fire hydrants.

Another proposed condition states:

Prior to the commencement of any above ground works pursuant to the development permitted, a detail and site specific Emergency Response Plan shall be submitted and approved in writing by the Local Authority and Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service. The Emergency Response Plan shall be developed using best practice guidance as detailed and required in the published Grid Scale Battery Energy Storage System planning - Guidance for FRS published by the National Fire Chiefs Council. The development shall be carried out and thereafter operated only in accordance with the approved site specific Emergency Response Plan.

Outline Planning Permission for Two Dwellings

The committee will also be considering planning application 25/00055/OUT from Chapel Hill Homes Ltd for outline planning permission for two dwellings at 39 Parish Hill, Bournheath. Councillor May has requested that this application be considered by the Planning Committee rather than being determined under Delegated Powers.

The application seeks outline planning permission with landscaping reserved for future consideration. Matters of access, appearance, layout, and scale are for consideration under this application.

The planning report notes that the site is an open, undeveloped field within the Green Belt, positioned directly to the northwest edge of the settlement boundary of Bournheath.

Bournheath Parish Council has objected to the application based on the following material planning considerations:

• Inappropriate development of the Green Belt
• Traffic generation and road safety
• Flood risk
• Sustainability

The planning report notes that there is a relevant planning history for this site. A Permission in Principle (PIP) application (23/00977/PIP) for residential development of up to 2 dwellings was initially refused but later allowed at appeal. The planning report notes that the PIP appeal that was allowed on 26 September 2024 for two dwellings on this site is an extant permission that could still be implemented, and as such provides a strong fallback position for the applicant, making it an important material consideration for this application.

The planning officer's report concludes that the proposal is acceptable, stating that the dwellings are shown to be positioned within the contours of the site, and that the scheme has been amended to reduce the bulk of the development. The report recommends that outline planning permission be granted subject to conditions.

Planning Performance Report: Quarter One

The committee will be reviewing a report on planning performance information from Quarter One (April 2025 – June 2025).

The report provides details on the determination timescales for planning applications and planning appeals at Bromsgrove District Council when tested against government set timescales.

The report notes that the government requires a minimum of 60% of major and 70% of non-major applications to be determined in time, or within an agreed extension of time. The report states that Bromsgrove District Council's speed of decision-making for major applications over the rolling one-year period was 92.8%, and the speed of decision-making for non-major applications over the rolling one-year period was 87.7%.

The report also provides information on the quality of decision-making, which is measured by the proportion of total decisions, or non-determinations, that are allowed at appeal. The government has set the maximum threshold that no authority should exceed 10% of decisions overturned at appeal. The report states that Bromsgrove District Council's quality of decision-making for major applications for the most recent period available (October 2022 – September 2024) was 5.7%, and the quality of decision-making for non-major applications for the most recent period available (October 2022 – September 2024) was 2.5%.

The report includes a list of appeal decisions received in Quarter 1 and a list of cost award outcomes relating to recent planning appeals. The report notes that there were 0 major appeals allowed and 0 major appeals dismissed in Quarter 1, and 6 non-major appeals allowed and 8 non-major appeals dismissed in Quarter 1.

The report notes that a cost award was made against the council in relation to appeal APP/P1805/W/24/3355806 at The Firs Farm, Hanbury Road, Stoke Prior, and that the cost award settlement was £3000.00.