Battery storage site on greenfield land given go-ahead after 26 objections
The energy storage site, which faced 26 objections, will be built in Glasgow between Nitshill and Barrhead in a field.
The system aims to store electricity from the national grid in periods of low demand and then deliver it back during peak times.
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There are to be 12 containers housing the energy storage systems located on 9.5 acres of designated greenbelt land. Residents voiced concerns over health and safety, fire risk, negative impact on wildlife, light pollution and loss of greenspace in objections lodged with the council.
Councillors approved the bid from applicant GPC 1184 Ltd at yesterday's planning applications committee subject to conditions.
Speaking at the meeting, councillor Eva Bolander described the plan as a 'very interesting development for the city'.
She said she had concerns about ecology but was reassured by information from the applicants and council officials adding: 'I would be more than happy to approve it.'
Councillor Jill Pidgeon said: 'I feel this is a really well thought out and welcome development to our city. If we are serious about moving towards net zero we have to start allowing this to be part of our city and our landscape.'
READ MORE: 'You will be on trial': Pro-Palestine protesters target Westminster
Also backing the proposal, councillor Imran Alam said: 'I think it is a good development. The developers have really thought about this with regards to maintaining a good balance with development and the surrounding green space. If there were major issues, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and other organisations would have put in objections.'
The Parkhouse Road site is to be surrounded by a 1.8 metre perimeter fence and include infrastructure located in a compound, security lighting and CCTV.
The system would store up to 24mw of energy.
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Telegraph
26 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Why Britain must not recognise Palestine
The West Bank was never taken from the Palestinians. When Israel conquered the territory in 1967 it was from the Jordanians, who had occupied it since 1948 before trying their luck at a genocide of the Jews. Regardless, if Jerusalem gave up the land in return for peace, it would make Israel just nine miles wide at its centre. Known as the 'Hadera-Gadera rectangle', that narrow waist holds half the population and much of the country's vital infrastructure, including Tel Aviv. A new Palestinian state would lie just over the border. After October 7, would you do it? The Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas, is famously incompetent, and is currently enjoying the 20th year of the four-year term to which he was elected in 2005. He presides over a system of corruption and brutality; he holds a PhD in Holocaust revisionism from a Moscow university; and he offers cash incentives to those convicted of terror offences, with higher payments awarded for more serious crimes. Fancy the odds? When Israel pulled out of Gaza in 2005, it was in the naive belief that, from then on, even a single rocket from the Strip would meet with international condemnation, since the settlements and 'occupation' were no more. So that worked out well. A two-state solution would see the same policy applied on the West Bank. What could possibly go wrong? Sir Keir Starmer presumably thinks it's a great idea, because in nine days' time, Britain will join France and the Saudis in New York in talks about recognising a state of Palestine. Far easier to gamble with the lives of someone else's children than your own, I suppose. This would form the natural culmination of Britain's escalating hostility towards our ally, as it battles to defeat the jihadi group that carried out that orgy of butchery, mutilation and rape two years ago and has vowed to do the same again. Hostages are still in the catacombs. Yet Sir Keir dreams of a state of Palestine. War is hell. Israel – which neither wanted it nor started it – evacuates civilians before attacks and provides them with aid. Yet in Parliament last week, amid nods from MPs who have never known the inside of a bomb shelter, the Prime Minister branded Israel 'appalling'. As ever, Starmer's petty politicking blinds him to his own moral bankruptcy. Unilaterally recognising a state of Palestine is a contemptuous proposal. Dismissing Israel's existential security concerns is insult enough, but providing a reward for October 7 creates awful incentives for the future. Worse still, perhaps, is the narrative it would create. Britain's official policy would be to blame Israel for the lack of a Palestinian state, when the historical truth is the opposite. The Palestinians were first offered self-determination in 1947, but rejected it in favour of attempted genocide. They were offered it again during the Oslo Accords in the 1990s, but derailed it with a spate of suicide bombs that claimed the lives of many Israelis. In 2000, at Camp David, they were offered 96 per cent of the West Bank but turned it down. In 2008, prime minister Ehud Olmert offered 94 per cent of the territory with land swaps for the remainder, East Jerusalem as a Palestinian capital, and the Old City turned over to international control. Again, Abbas rejected it. Why? Because the true problem is the very existence of a Jewish country, which is seen as a rebuke by some to Arab honour. The Palestinians don't want a state alongside Israel. They want a state instead of it. This is what Britain would be supporting.
The Independent
2 hours ago
- The Independent
‘Let down by a world that claims to be humane but does nothing': Palestinians speak out as Israeli bulldozers raze West Bank villages
Jaber Dabbaseh sits upon a pile of dust-strewn rubble. 'We feel oppressed, let down by a world that claims to be humane, while it does nothing,' the father-of-five says. The ruins once formed his family home in Khalet al-Daba'a in the West Bank, before his village was almost entirely demolished by Israeli bulldozers. A crippling 2025 for Palestinians in the West Bank has seen 14 children among 80 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in the north of the territory alone. In late May came a hammer blow when Israel announced that 22 new settlements had been approved. Far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich warned Israel would 'not stop until the entire area receives its full legal status and becomes an inseparable part of the State of Israel,' a lucid illustration of the aggressive pro-settlement policies of Benjamin Netanyahu's government. On Thursday 5 June Palestinians marked Naksa Day, a commemoration of the forced displacement of around 300,000 Palestinians during the June 1967 war. Nearly six decades on, demoralised West Bank residents tell The Independent that the current situation is worse than ever. 'Their future is lost and we cannot provide for them, even a little,' says Dabbaseh, lamenting the life awaiting his five boys. 'The situation is very, very tragic.' Dabbaseh is one of the residents of Khalet al-Daba'a that have remained on the land, living in tents and residential caves since Israeli machinery razed it to the ground on 5 May. The IDF says the village is 'built illegally within a military firing zone' and that Palestinians live there illegally. This is disputed by the UN, EU, and rights organisations who say the forced expulsion of Palestinians in Masafer Yatta is illegal. 'Israel must immediately halt illegal practices leading to the forced displacement of Palestinians, including attacks on residential areas, destruction of property and infrastructure, pervasive access and movement restrictions imposed on Palestinians,' Amnesty International said on Thursday in a statement marking Naksa Day, as it accused Israel of presiding over a 'ruthless system of apartheid'. Since Khalet al-Daba'a's destruction, settlers have roamed the remnants of the village daily, grazing their sheep and vandalising remaining structures in the hope of pushing Palestinians away from the land, residents say. Footage shows settlers stood among the wreckage of Khalet al-Daba'a as three soldiers watch on, hands in pockets, relaxed and chatty. 'Our children are struggling to reach school and live in anxiety and fear. We cannot protect them from the settlers. We have no clinics, no schools, no recreational facilities for children,' Dabbaseh says. Nine houses, ten water tanks, four animal shelters, a community centre and most of the village's solar panels in the village were flattened by the army of bulldozers in less than two hours, according to activists. Residents watched on helplessly from a nearby hilltop, witnessing the stark transformation of their small village into a bleak landscape of lost livelihoods. Masafer Yatta, a collection of hamlets in the South Hebron Hills which the Israeli army declared a military firing zone in the 1980s, has faced some of the most brutal manifestations of Israeli occupation. After decades of legal wrangling, the High Court ruled in 2022 that there were no legal barriers to prevent the expulsion of Palestinians from their homes. Many Palestinians have repeatedly rebuilt their homes after they have been flattened. Others have moved into caves which have been renovated by locals and activists to make them habitable for families. Jaber Dabbaseh says the latest eviction was the eighth he has seen his home demolished in as many years. Increasingly emboldened by the Israeli government's pro-settlement policies, the rate of settler attacks on Palestinian villages has increased over the past year, residents say. Each week, footage emerges on social media of settlers, often masked and armed, descending on Palestinian villages in the West Bank. 'We are full of sadness, full of weakness. What can we do?' asks Mohammad Hesham Huraini, a 22-year-old activist who lives in the nearby village of at-Tuwani. 'The people are scared and afraid. They want someone to stand by them to at least feel that we are not alone.' Speaking in a phone call last Friday, Huraini says he is due to join join fellow activists and resident to visit the remnants of Khalet al-Daba'a. 'I don't know if we will come back in an ambulance, or a military jeep, or a police jeep,' he says. 'It's really worse than ever before, more dangerous than before. The people feel that they are alone, the international community just watches.' Days later, Huraini was detained while sitting in a tent with other activists in Khalet al-Daba'a. Israeli police have routinely detained activists and residents on the land, including 70-year-old Irish woman Deirdre Murphy - who as of Friday remained in detention as she appealed her deportation - and Swedish national Susanne Björk, both UK residents. The army says entry into is prohibited under military orders. 'Every day it's getting worse and worse, and we expect there is more worse to come,' says Mohammad Hureini - a cousin of the previously-quoted Mohammad Hesham Huraini. Speaking of the settlers, he said: 'There is no power to stop them, they are roaming daily, shooting, stealing land. Anyone who stands up for their rights will be attacked.' The Israeli military says its troops are 'required to act to stop the violation' in instances of violence against Palestinians and 'to delay or detain the suspects until the police arrive at the scene'. But Palestinians say Israeli authorities offer no such protection. Activists including Basel Adra, the Oscar-winning director of the documentary No Other Land, which depicts settler and military violence in Masafer Yatta, have issued an urgent call for journalists and activists from the international community to flock to the West Bank. 'It's not easy for me to write this, but my community Masafer Yatta will be destroyed unless more activists and journalists don't urgently come and join us on the ground,' Adra wrote on X along with a video showing Israel settlers standing among the ruins of Khalet al-Daba'a. During one such visit led by Adra earlier this week, masked Israeli soldiers barred around 20 journalists from entering the villages. As the conversation draw to a close, Huraini thanks the international community for their support. But now, he says, as the community of Masafer Yatta looks ahead to a gloomy future: 'We need you here on the ground.' The IDF said: 'The mission of the IDF is to maintain the security of all residents of the area, and to act to prevent terrorism and activities that endanger the citizens of the State of Israel. 'Enforcement against illegal structures is carried out in accordance with the law, operational priorities, and subject to approval by the political echelon. The structures built in [Khalet al-Daba'a] and nearby areas were constructed illegally and were therefore demolished after the owners were given the opportunity to present their claims. 'The IDF monitors developments in the area and acts in accordance with regulations.' Israeli police were also contacted by The Independent.
The Guardian
11 hours ago
- The Guardian
Conference to recognise Palestinian state to weaken scope of its ambition, diplomats say
A planned conference in Saudi Arabia this month that supporters of Palestine had hoped would push western governments to recognise a Palestinian state has weakened its ambition and will instead hope to agree on steps towards recognition, diplomats have said. The change to the aims of the conference, due to be held between 17 and 20 June, marks a retreat from an earlier vision that it would mark a joint declaration of recognition of Palestine as a state by a large group of countries, including permanent UN security council members France and the UK. Emmanuel Macron, the French president and a co-sponsor of the event, has declared recognition of Palestine as 'a moral duty and political requirement', but French officials briefing their Israeli counterparts this week reassured them the conference will not be the moment for recognition. That is now seen as a prize that will emerge from other measures, including a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, the release of Israeli hostages, reform of the Palestinian Authority, economic reconstruction and a definitive end to Hamas's rule in Gaza. France and Saudi Arabia have set up eight working parties to prepare the necessary ingredients for a two-state solution, and Macron is hosting a conference of civil society under the banner of the Paris Peace Forum immediately before the three-day conference. The UK is overseeing the humanitarian working party and other working groups cover reconstruction, economic viability of a Palestinian state, promoting respect for international law, narratives for peace and 'peace day', an imagining of the benefits to both sides from a peaceful settlement. Israel and the US have attended run-up meetings to the conference but have not spoken, prompting speculation they may boycott the event. Israel has fought hard to prevent stateless Palestinians achieving self-determination. Polls show only a fifth of the Israel electorate favour a two-state solution and 56% of Jewish Israelis supported the 'transfer of Arab citizens of Israel to other countries'. Israel has also approved plans to build a further 22 settlements in the West Bank – the biggest expansion in decades. Israel's defence minister, Israel Katz, said it was 'a strategic move that prevents the establishment of a Palestinian state'. Macron's initiative has been described as 'disastrous' by the Israel's ambassador to France, Joshua Zarka. Recognition of a Palestinian state was previously seen as an outcome of a failed 1990s-era two-state plan. However, governments in Europe increasingly doubt Israel has any intention to ease its control over Palestinians and see recognition as a possible lever to force a change of thinking among Israeli officials. Ireland, Spain and Norway recognised a Palestinian state last year. Macron has insisted he would only recognise a Palestinian state without Hamas – the same stance as the UK. In an open letter to Macron, The Elders, a group of former senior UN diplomats, say recognition is 'an essential transformative step towards peace' that should be taken as a matter of principle, divorced from negotiations over the ultimate form of Palestinian statehood and how and when Hamas should be disarmed. Anne-Claire Legendre, the president's adviser on the Middle East, has said the conference 'must mark a transformative milestone for the effective implementation of the two-state solution. We must move from words to deeds, and we must move from the end of the war in Gaza to the end of the conflict.' She met Israeli officials this week to discuss the conference and Israel's often cloudy long-term vision for the region. She also met the Palestinian prime minister, Mohammad Mustafa. Israeli newspapers reported the travelling French officials as saying: 'The recognition of a Palestinian state remains on the table, but not as a product of the conference. This will remain a bilateral subject between states.' The British foreign secretary, David Lammy, who is expected to attend the conference, is under massive backbench pressure to do more to punish Israel and is, at minimum, being asked flesh out the conditions for the UK recognition of a Palestinian state. Hamish Falconer, the Middle East minister, told MPs this week the UK thinking was evolving. 'One reason that the traditional position of the UK government has been that the recognition of a Palestinian state should come at the end, or during, a two-state solution process was the hope that we would move towards a two-state solution,' he said. 'Many minds have been changed because of the rhetoric of the Israeli government – the clear statements by so many that they are no longer committed to a two-state solution.' But the British are looking for firm undertakings at the conference on the future government of Palestine, including the exclusion of Hamas from any future governance of Gaza, which is something Hamas itself has appeared to accept in the various plans drawn up by Arab states. A growing number of Conservative MPs have broken with their frontbench on the issue and now back recognition, including the former attorney general Sir Jeremy Wright. France hopes that a group of western states recognising a Palestinian state could be counter-balanced by Muslim states normalising relations with Israel. However, Saudi recognition of Israel seems impossible. The Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, the other co-host, has asserted repeatedly that Israel is committing a genocide, a view that is shared widely by Saudi public opinion.
