Proposal: 

Application number P24/S3405/FUL. Proposed development of a Battery Storage Energy System (BESS) including ancillary works and access arrangements (As updated by Landscape Strategy received 11 November 2024). 

Land adjacent to Cowley Substation off Blackberry Lane near Greater Leys OX44 9NG

Our Response:

OPT was established in 1927 as a charity and local amenity society with the principal aim of conserving and enhancing Oxford and its setting. It takes a forward thinking and positive approach to development, looking to influence change rather than stopping it, preserving the best of the old and encouraging the best of the new. It is committed to ensuring that Oxford can continue to flourish and prosper, whilst protecting its historic character and setting.

OPT owns around 1,000 acres of land in and around Oxford, promoting increased biodiversity and making green space available for local people to benefit from and enjoy. A large proportion of this land lies within the Oxford Green Belt.

The application site detailed above sits within the Oxford Green Belt, identified within the 2015 Oxford Green Belt Study as Parcel OX15. This particular Green Belt Parcel plays the strategic role of preventing the further development and urban sprawl of Blackbird Leys to the south, for which category the 2015 Study assessed OX15 as High value. 

The Trust can recognise the proposed scheme’s necessity, and the importance of developing infrastructure which supports the future stability and security of the city’s power. OPT acknowledge the application site appears to be logical location for the siting of a BESS, next to an existing substation and away from residential properties. 

OPT would however like to emphasise the importance of a detailed planting scheme, to help ensure the long term preservation of the overarching character and appearance of the surrounding Green Belt. Appropriate border treatment should be implemented to ensure that historic views both in to and out from Oxford are protected, with particular attention paid to the impact on views from the Oxford Green Belt Way, a 50-mile footpath which circumnavigates Oxford designed to best appreciate the city’s green setting.

OPT would also like to note to Officers the proximity of the proposed scheme to the site referenced under policy STRAT11 of the adopted local plan. Though buffered by the existing substation, OPT would politely urge officers to consider the implication of this application on future potential uses, further emphasising the need for appropriate screening measures.