Residents highlight negative impact on wildlife and traffic concerns over proposed BESS site for Briercliffe
The message was clear – green fields, not battery fields – as we discovered when we chatted to two residents opposed to plans for a new Battery Energy Storage System site in rural Burnley.
As previously revealed in the Burnley Express, Amberside Energy Ltd have applied to Burnley Borough Council to site the BESS on land to the north of Halifax Road owned by a local farmer.
The proposal has been met with a wave of anger and concern from local residents who are worried about the environmental and safety impact should the site be built there.
A number of signs, posters and even graffiti posted on the road are testament to the level of opposition among local people to these plans.
We met with Jonathan Walton and Liz Smithson who live on opposite sides of the field where the BESS would be located.
Liz explained to us how a meeting at Hill Lane Baptist Church with concened residents last Friday evening saw them air their concerns.
“Residents are concerned with the impact on wildlife and the amount of traffic and the chaos it would cause in Lane Bottom, it’s a very narrow road with some subsidence. People are really concerned this could disrupt their daily lives,” Liz said.
Jonathan, who has lived in the area since he was five-years-old, said the field is home to a number of nesting sites for bird species including the curlew and lapwing, as well as badgers and other wildlife.
Chief among worries of local people is the potential safety impact of such facilities. A significant fire and explosion at a BESS site in Livepool in September, 2020, caused national headlines.
Liz added: “I believe it took nearly 11 hours to get the fire under control and nearly three days to put it out completely. We need to get the word out further because I don’t think people are aware of what these things are and the potential dangers they pose if not in the right location.”
Amberside has said that the project would enhance grid resilience against outages and disruptions and would be able to store enough energy to power around 250,000 homes for two hours. Once operational the 77MW battery storage system would store energy and connect to the electricity grid via an overhead power line on-site.