The Strategic Sites Committee will be considering reserved matters and discharge of conditions for a development at Land off Walnut Drive and Foscote Road, Maids Moreton, in addition to the development of a battery energy storage system (BESS) at Rookery Farm, Granborough.

Land off Walnut Drive and Foscote Road, Maids Moreton

The reserved matters application seeks approval for the layout, scale, appearance and landscaping for 153 dwellings at Land off Walnut Drive and Foscote Road, Maids Moreton, in accordance with the associated outline permission which was granted in March 2022.

The development proposes 49 affordable dwellings.

The applicant has also submitted details to discharge condition 22 (biodiversity net gain) of the outline approval which has resulted in 10.39% for habitat units and 14.18% for hedgerow units.

The application will also discharge condition 8 (Construction Management Plan) of the outline approval. This condition requires the submission and approval of a construction management plan (CMP) before development commences. The plan is required to include:

Phasing of the development; Construction access; Management and timing of deliveries; A condition survey of the surrounding highway network to include pre-commencement photographs and details of securing the submission of post-construction photographs and any necessary mitigation required to repair the highway network; Parking and turning for vehicles of site personnel, operatives, visitors and deliveries; Loading and unloading of plant and materials Piling techniques where proposed; Storage of plant and materials; Programme of works (including details of construction anticipated vehicle routing which is to be prescribed and measures to enforce its use; measures for traffic management and operating hours); Provision of boundary hoarding and lighting; Details of proposed means of dust suppression and noise mitigation (including hours of work on site) in line with the requirements of BS 5228-1:2009+A1:2014; Details of measures to prevent mud from vehicles leaving the site during construction; and Details of the storage of spoil or other excavated or deposited material on the site, including the height of such storage above either natural ground level or the approved ground level.

The development site is at the northern edge of Maids Moreton, adjacent to Vitalograph Ltd, whose access road runs to the west of the site. The application proposes a main access road between Walnut Drive and Foscote Road to serve the development. The existing footpath from Main Street through the site will be upgraded.

Rookery Farm, Granborough

The application proposes the development of a 500MW Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) at Rookery Farm, Granborough and its associated infrastructure, including access, drainage, and landscaping for a period of 40 years.

The applicant has provided an environmental statement and other supporting documentation.

The revised application includes a reduction in the scale of the proposed development, with 518 battery containers and 19 inverter buildings now proposed. These containers are approximately 12 metres long, 2.4 metres wide and 2.9 metres high, and the inverter buildings are approximately 24 metres long, 9.5 metres wide and 4 metres high.

The application site is irregular in shape, bounded by Claydon Brook to the north and west, rising toward Hogshaw Road to the south and east. The development is in close proximity to the East Claydon Substation which will provide the connection point for the BESS.

The BESS units will be arranged in rows in two fields with a north east to south west orientation. New permissive access routes are proposed for walkers across the application site, with access to these proposed from the existing Public Rights of Way network to the south and east of the application site.

The application proposes extensive tree and hedgerow planting as mitigation for the visual impact of the development. The battery units would be decommissioned after 40 years and all equipment and infrastructure removed. The tree planting provided will be retained and should by then have matured into woodland.