Fury over plans to build huge battery storage facility the size of two football pitches on protected green land in net-zero drive – as villagers warn it will ‘destroy life as we know it’

A massive battery storage facility the size of two football pitches being built on protected green land will ‘destroy life as we know it’, furious villagers have warned.

People living in picturesque Chilworth, near Southampton, Hampshire, fear it will become a ‘disaster’ and cause a fire hazard, potentially causing toxic fumes near a nearby nursery and school.

But despite locals’ concerns about lithium batteries’ notorious tendency to burst into flames, the council gave the plans the go-ahead at a fiery planning meeting, drawing the ire of one resident who stormed out.

Just meters from St Denys Church, which has bells dating back to 1200, plans for the ‘monstrosity’ include a substation, transformer, site access, internal access tracks, security measures, entrance gates, other supporting infrastructure and landscaping .

The village, referred to as Celeworda in the Domesday Book, boasts thatched houses and average house prices of more than £910,000.

Boom Development’s application was approved at a Test Valley Borough Council planning meeting, with one councilor saying: ‘This is about our grandchildren and the future’.

The battery storage system – which will be built on a designated local green space between villages – is designed to charge during times of low demand via a nearby substation.

It can then be called upon as needed during the more traditional peak hours of the early morning and evening, when people create a boost of energy by boiling kettles, cooking food and turning on the TV.

But Malcolm Henley, 71, who has been a battery engineer for more than 50 years, said: ‘This has nothing to do with renewable energy.

‘It is not climate-friendly, it costs energy. It actually takes time to charge these damn things.

“They claim we have all this wind and hydropower, but it’s being used because of the infrastructure shortage in the National Grid.

‘So that they can cover the shortage from the National Grid during peak times.’

Mr Henley, who is also a member of Chilworth Parish, added that the now approved facility is 15 per cent ‘inefficient’ and lamented its location on green land.

“This should be on a brownfield site somewhere else,” he added.

“The disaster will happen in the area, it will simply create an industrial center in the middle of a green space.

‘This will destroy life as we know it. It will have a detrimental effect on the local divide.

‘Its size does not fit the area. There is a fire risk near our local nursery and school.’

Land is being demolished to make way for underground cables that will take it to a substation more than four kilometers away.

“That is not conducive to an energy sustainability project,” he added.

He said locals are ‘bitterly opposed’ to the ‘monstrosity’ of a facility as it could have ‘easily’ been built on an already approved site just six kilometers away in nearby Nursling.

“The committee has no knowledge of the technology,” he added.

“They’ve been given a renewable program and are just following the national vision that they’ve been asked to do.

‘This is a huge installation and there is a fire risk; it should be in an industrial environment.’

He also warned of fires in lithium-ion batteries, which are much harder to extinguish and “extremely dangerous” because of the fumes they emit.

“None of this has been taken into account,” he said.

‘After the utter frustration of the meeting, it has been one of bitter disappointment ever since.

‘There seems to be a total lack of understanding.

‘We have nothing against lithium-ion technology, but they’re building it next to a school – it’s stupid.

“It’s all a total mess.”

Chilworth Cllr Philip Bundy said: “No one is arguing about the principle of it.

“My biggest concern is that it is in the local divide.

“We have a policy regarding local gaps and I think maintaining that policy was justified.

‘If things go wrong, it could be an environmental disaster. Once it catches fire you can’t put it out, it’s not possible.’

Local homeowner Terry Newton, 65, said: ‘We’ve lived here since 1983, it’s such a beautiful place.

‘Other councils, such as in Devon, have stopped the construction of these farms.

“It was Test Valley Council that voted for it, why don’t they do what other councils have done, it’s all for the same reasons as our objections.

‘We have only had one battery farm on fire in England, but in Europe it has happened many times. And if it catches fire, we can’t put it out.

‘I don’t know if we can hear the buzzing from here, but we walk past it every day because we have a dog.

“We are affected; we don’t just live here and look at it from our backyard, we walk there every day

“It’s not a question of if it will catch fire, but a question of when.”

Speaking at the meeting of the Conservative-controlled council, Boom Development agent Nick Beddoe said: ‘There is a huge shortage of electricity supply.

‘The demand for electricity will double by 2025.

‘This increases the capacity of the local electricity network.

‘Every facility is essential to meet demand; this will be able to power 25,000 homes at any time.”

At the meeting, Liberal Democrat Cllr Celia Dowden ‘reluctantly’ voted in favor of approving the plans as she was one of seven who gave them the green light.

Speaking afterwards, she said: ‘We completely understand residents’ feelings of anxiety and fear.

‘No one is pretending that this is complete nonsense.

‘We all know that these types of applications are very new to us: we have to make these difficult decisions.

‘We cannot ignore the consequences of climate change, we cannot continue to ignore them.

“If the government says we need to store our electricity to get to our net zero, we can’t say we don’t know.

“It’s our job to make decisions that are unpopular.

‘This is about our grandchildren and the future.

“It’s up to us to grapple with these difficult decisions and that’s what residents find troubling – if it’s in their neighborhood and it’s fine if it’s somewhere else.”