Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) 25/1070/FUL

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Dear Sir/Madam Please find below my objections to planning application 25/1070/FUL for a Battery Energy Storage System on land opposite the junction with Butterfly Lane and east of Watling Street Radlett. This objection should be taken as my separate and individual submission in accordance with your agreed policy. 1. This is not Grey Belt land . This is inappropriate development on Green Belt land. No very special circumstances exist so as to allow the development. This is not energy production, it is storage for electricity from a mix of sources, including fossil fuels. 2. These installations are designed to support the production of renewable energy and should be built next to a wind farm or solar plant. If needed to support the National Grid this type of installation should be sited on brownfield land near one of the very many National Grid substations around the UK. 3. Very substantial upgrades are scheduled for the National Grid Elstree substation and a second adjoining substation will also be built. BESS support is therefore unnecessary. 4.The Hertsmere Local Plan requires that development should be located as unobtrusively as possible, This industrialised plant will harm the openness and character of this rural location. 5. The existing trees and woodland are largely deciduous and will not be effective in Winter when leaves fall. The new screening proposed will take many years to mature and even then will not hide the BESS which at some points will be 22 feet high. The development will be a huge eyesore and be highly visible from a number of footpaths, particularly byway 79 and footpath 41 and Elstree & Borehamwood footpaths 3 and 4 6. Although the proposal is for a period of 47 years that will seem permanent to most people. 7. New development should not contribute to unacceptable levels of noise pollution. A BESS emits constant noise at different frequencies from the air conditioning units inverters and transformers on a 24/7 basis. Noise from a BESS is at a level that can impact people’s daily lives, their sleep and health. The noise will travel far across the open Green Belt and a wide number of properties and schools will be affected. 8. There are many schools in the vicinity housing thousands of pupils, including boarders. It has long been acknowledged that noise impacts learning. 9. It is well known that a BESS is prone to fire. These thermal runaway fires from lithium batteries are highly dangerous. These fires cannot be put out with water -they can only be cooled with water and left to burn. This leads to highly contaminated water runoff and toxic vapour clouds which can spread over a very wide area. The vapour clouds can easily explode and it is usual for people in the area to be given stay at home orders, sometimes for days. 10. The Developer proposes that surface water drains to Tykes Water which is a highly sensitive chalk stream in flood zones 2 and 3. This unacceptably increases flood risk. 11.In the event of fire any runoff firewater that falls on the ground and also water from vapour clouds will also drain to Tykes Water leading to contamination of our water system. 12. There is no certainty that any artificial water supply would be enough particularly in the event of contagion which is common. 13. I am very concerned that there will only be one roadway into the development which could hinder firefighters depending on wind direction. This is highly dangerous- the fire services guidance requires at least two roads. 14. There is a wildlife site immediately next to the site and a further wildlife site near the south west boundary. These would both be affected by the hugely increased noise levels and be at real risk in case of fire. 15 . This land has been successfully farmed for years. At a time when food security is more important than ever the development will result in a loss of over 10 acres of productive agricultural land. This application is entirely unsuited to this location and has unacceptable levels of fire and other environmental risk and I strongly urge the Council to reject it. Yours sincerely,

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