Agenda and draft minutes

The agenda and reports associated with this minute can be found here.

Please note that if any changes are made to this minute at the point of approval, these will be outlined in the subsequent minute and this document will not be retrospectively altered.

The Forum had before it the procedure note and guidance for members on the operation of Forum meetings.

The Forum resolved:-

to note the procedure note and guidance for members.

The Forum had before it the minute of the previous meeting of 21 September 2023, for approval.

The Forum resolved:-

to approve the minute as a correct record.

Planning Officer:  Gavin Clark

The Forum had before it a report by the Chief Officer – Strategic Place Planning, on the submission of a Proposal of Application by Sustainability Unlimited LLP, for the proposed battery storage units with associated infrastructure, control and switch building, containers and associated works including access at land north of Aryburn Farm, Dyce, Aberdeen, planning reference 230869.

The report advised that in terms of the site description, the application site  related to an area of an agricultural field extending to approximately 0.74 hectares. It was located approximately 975m to the west of Whitestripes Road and approximately 1km to the east of the A947; the settlement of Dyce was located approximately 210m to the south, separated by a commercial woodland and the River Don. The surrounding area on the north side of the river was predominantly agricultural and wooded in nature, but did include a number of residential properties including South Lodge and Gean Cottage located to the immediate north of the site. A grouping of farm buildings and associated farm cottage (Aryburn Farm) are located to the immediate south-east.

In terms of the proposal, it related to the provision of multiple containerised battery storage units totalling 33 megawatts of export capacity along with associated infrastructure, control building, switch room, inverter containers, lighting and other associated works. The connection to the Dyce (Cothal View) substation to the west would be by an underground cable, approximately 1.5km in length.

The Forum heard from Mr Gavin Clark, Senior Planner, who addressed the Forum and provided details regarding the planning aspects of the application. 

Mr Clark provided details on the relevant planning policies noting that the following policies were relevant to the proposed application in regards to the Local Development Plan (2023):-

·       Policy D1 (Quality Placemaking)

·       Policy D2 (Amenity)

·       Policy D4 (Landscape)

·       Policy NE1 (Green Belt)

·       Policy NE2 (Green and Blue Infrastructure)

·       Policy NE3 (Natural Heritage)

·       Policy R7 (Renewal and Low Energy Developments); and

·       Policy WB3 (Noise)

In regards to National planning Framework 4, the following policies were relevant:

·       Policy 1 (Tackling the Climate and Nature Crises)

·       Policy 2 (Climate, Mitigation and Adaptation)

·       Policy 3 (Biodiversity)

·       Policy 4 (Natural Places)

·       Policy 5 (Soils) • Policy 11 (Energy)

·       Policy 13 (Sustainable Transport)

·       Policy 14 (Design, Quality and Place)

·       Policy 22 (Flood Risk and Water Management

It was noted that as part of the application, the applicant had been advised that the following information would need to accompany the formal submission:-

·       Design and Access Statement

·       Drainage Assessment

·       Noise Impact Assessment

·       Planning Statement

·       Pre-Application Consultation Report

The Forum then heard from Mr David Bowman, agent for the proposed development.

Mr Bowman began the presentation by explaining that Battery Energy Storage (BESS) had a key part to play in ensuring homes and businesses could be powered by more green energy, even when the sun was not shining or wind not blowing.   He noted that battery storage technologies were essential to speeding up the replacement of fossil fuels with renewable energy and explained that battery storage systems  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.