Battery storage farm plans approved next to former Black Country quarry earmarked for 270 homes

The move would see the facility built on nearly two acres of land at the former Edwin Richards Quarry in Rowley Regis after receiving the backing of Sandwell Council.

A move to fill the quarry and build 270 new homes on the land was first approved in 2018 and signed off by Sandwell Council last year.

The planning application by Downing Renewable Developments submitted to Sandwell Council asked for permission to install 56 storage containers and other infrastructure as part of the 100MW battery energy storage system (BESS).

The facility, which would store surplus energy for later use, would be in place for 40 years before being removed.

In a report outlining its decision, Sandwell Council’s planning officers said: “The main material consideration associated with the development are its visual impact and effect on the noise climate of the area. The development raises no significant concerns regarding either of these factors.

“The proposal would be a sufficient distance from neighbouring properties as to raise no significant concerns regarding its impact on light, outlook and privacy.”

A statement included with the application said: “The development will make a significant contribution to meeting international, national and local policy objectives and legislative targets in relation to energy and climate change, as well as diversifying the energy mix, promoting security of supply and facilitating the transition to a low-carbon economy.

“Due to careful and robust site selection and design the development will have no significant residual adverse impacts whilst achieving these benefits.”

Planning permission to build more than 280 homes at the quarry was granted by Sandwell Council in February 2018 and then a detailed application, which set out the design of the new homes and the layout of the new estate, was backed by councillors last year.

The homes should be built in the next six to eight years, applicant and landowner FCC Environment said. The proposals included a mix of one-and-two-bed flats and two-to-four-bed homes – of which just 11 would be ‘affordable’ homes.

A planning application to build 14 one-and-two-bed flats off Portway Road next to the former quarry was also approved last year.

A multi-million-pound plan to transform the former Edwin Richards Quarry was revealed a decade ago – a scheme that included hundreds of new homes, a waste plant, and a promise to fill the quarry with 12 million tonnes of imported materials across at least 30 years – and the land has long been touted by Sandwell Council as a site for future housing.

The quarry had a more than 100-year history of extracting dolerite, known famously as Rowley Rag and used extensively for building roads, before closing in 2008.