Eaglesham Mum raises concerns about battery storage facility
Last month East Renfrewshire Council gave Cheshire-based firm GPC 1337 Ltd, which is understood to be a subsidiary of Apatura, the go ahead to build and run a 40-megawatt battery energy storage system (BESS) on an agricultural site at the east side of Glasgow Road in Eaglesham.
A previous application was refused last October after councillors raised concerns over the risk of fire from lithium-ion batteries.
The company returned with a new plan, which council planners once again recommended for approval, but more than 300 people submitted objections to the scheme, including local MSP Jackson Carlaw.
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MSP Jackson Carlaw has previously stated his opposition to the decision (Image: Sourced) One of those vehemently against the BESS is Morag Hannan who has three young children and whose family is one of four households living metres from the site.
The mum, who has described the increasing number of BESSs as an 'assault on the Scottish countryside,' is deeply concerned because when lithium batteries go wrong, they do so 'explosively' and 'have a tendency to reignite.'
The 41-year-old said: 'We would have to evacuate towards the fire. We don't have any way to go out the back.
'It's barbed wire fences and our neighbour beside us has got a stone wall. He's in his eighties and he can't get over that wall.
'We would have to move towards the fire and the hydrant is directly outside our drive, so if fire engines got there first, we're trapped. We cannot get out."
Morag Hannan with neighbour Kenneth Munro and husband Craig at the site (Image: Newsquest) 'The advice is to shelter in place, but it's a listed building with chimneys and obviously everyone's worried about the toxic fumes that come off battery fires," she added.
'We don't think that we could safely shelter in place and we don't know how we would get out either and these are things that the planning officer has ignored.'
She pointed to the battery storage plant fire at Moss Landing in California earlier this year and last month at a battery recycling plant in Kilwinning to highlight the devastation that can occur in the event of a battery fire.
Her concerns, however, are not just for her family and neighbours but for the long-term environmental and health impact a BESS and a fire would potentially have on Eaglesham, East Renfrewshire and beyond.
She has also raised questions as to why this site has to be used, when it is connecting more than five miles away to a substation in Giffnock.
Morag Hannan (Image: Newsquest) 'In Moss landing they tested the soil samples and there are dangerous levels of toxic metals in the soil since the fire,' said Morag, who also raised concerns about asthma and respiratory problems following battery fires.
'We're talking about the whole of East Renfrewshire being affected if this happens.
'The White Cart River is 170 metres downhill from this site.
'They said they will put in protection measures, but they keep chopping and changing and they can't tell us how these work.
'There's such a high safety issue, not to mention the noise, which they've kind of downplayed."
Morag Hannan, neighbour Kenneth and her husband Craig (Image: Newsquest) A petition to overturn the decision was started by a non-Eaglesham resident, which Morag says shows that this is not just an Eaglesham issue and how many throughout the authority feel strongly about the issue.
The petition, which highlights concerns about the establishment of a BESS on greenbelt land and potential land contamination, has attracted nearly 3,000 signatures.
It states that the council had earlier rejected a similar proposal from the same company, with councillors 'raising concerns about the suitability of the site and pointing out that the energy produced may not necessarily be from renewable sources'.
It further adds that their earlier judgment should have set a precedent, yet now, 'inexplicably', approval has been granted.
An Eaglesham Community Action group has also been started by Eaglesham resident Tom Taylor in response to the decision.
Tom has raised concerns about a high voltage electricity line and a high pressure natural gas line running through the site.
An Apatura BESS (Image: Apatura) Andrew Philpott, chief development officer at Apatura, said: 'The points raised by residents are understandable, and when developing projects, we take all of the local communities' concerns extremely seriously.
'The proposed project at Eaglesham has been through a rigorous planning process, meeting all of the council's requirements and ensuring the proposed project is developed to the highest standard.
'This includes developing a comprehensive fire safety plan with the local Fire and Rescue Service (FRS), conducting environmental impact reports and extensive Noise Impact Assessments (NIAs).
'These steps minimise the impact on local communities and environments, whilst maximising the impact on Scotland's net zero targets.
'We also develop a community fund alongside all our projects, specifically designed to directly fund community projects and benefit local residents. Our goal is to ensure that the communities hosting our projects share in the rewards, contributing to a sustainable and equitable future for all.
'Battery Energy Storage Systems are a crucial part of decarbonising the UK's energy demand and directly support the vast amounts of wind and solar energy produced in Scotland - storing it when generation is high for when demand is at its peak - and help put an end to expensive curtailment costs.
'The Eaglesham project is critical infrastructure for the nation, and whilst we're still in the early stages of development, we look forward to working closely with the local community and the council to make sure it's beneficial for all parties involved.'
An East Renfrewshire Council spokesperson said: "Having considered the application in full, permission was granted by our Planning Applications Committee with a number of conditions which must be met by the applicant."
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