Eco-campaigning vicar urges refusal of battery plan
An eco-campaigning Shropshire vicar is supporting a family in its fight against plans for a battery energy site on land next door.
The family lives close to a steep valley ovelooking the beautiful Ironbridge Gorge just outside of Coalbrookdale and their home has very visible cracks which they say is down to the unstable nature of the land.
The family did not wish to be named but were happy for the Local Democracy Reporting Service to visit their home with the Rev Paul Cawthorne.
They also have deep concerns about what would happen if there were a fire at the site and over pollution in waterways into the Gorge.
The company behind the plan, Lower Coalmoor BESS Ltd, wants the device on land off Buildwas Bank. It has received technical advice that “there are no geotechnical or geomorphological land instability matters preventing planning permission being granted.”
But Rev Cawthorne, the vicar of four churches, including Clive and Hadnall, near Shrewsbury, spends much of his time campaiging on environmental issues and disagrees with the assessment.
“It’s urgent that the inspector visits the site to see just how steep the slope into the World Heritage Site and watercourse actually is,” said Mr Cawthorne.
“The idea of driving pilings into that slope alone then banking it up with so many tons of extra weight makes me shudder at the risks and at the developer company desk mentality.”
The company said in planning documents that “considerable earthworks are proposed to provide acceptable slopes for vehicles to use” and that “this will include a cut and fill exercise, proposing one platform which levels the site.” It would involve the removal of material from north / west of site and relocating this in the south / east.”
Mr Cawthorne added: “Given the house wall has visibly cracked in two places and there’s a new water gully in the field from excess flow as a result of upslope engineering at Coalmoor, it’s a dangerous gamble that people behind desks in far off cities are playing with Shropshire lives and wildlife and with our World Heritage Site, on which so many local jobs depend.
“Would they say the same about the land being stable if they themselves were living in the house directly below with a severely disabled parent, I wonder”.
Telford & Wrekin Council’s planning committee refused the application last year, and the company behind the plan has gone to appeal over it. A hearing is scheduled for July.
The firm has also put in a bid for costs, saying that the council has been ‘unreasonable’ in refusing it. Council planning officials had recommended approving the scheme.
Committee members turned it down, stating they were concerned about land stability in the area.
Councillor Arnold England told the meeting in September 2024 that the Ironbridge bypass was moved quite a distance away and that bypass was built on stilts.
“We know the Gorge is geologically young, we know a lot of work has taken place to ensure some stability, we know Jiggers Bank has vitually collapsed on more than one occasion, so there is a risk of land instability in that general area. On that basis, I don’t think it’s safe to go ahead with this construction.”
And Councillor Nigel Dugmore said there are “ongoing problems with Jiggers Bank for as long as anyone can remember.”
Telford & Wrekin Council says in appeal documents that its elected planning committee did not act unreasonably when members went against the advice of their own officers to reject the plans.
An inspector from the Planning Inspectorate will decide on the costs issue and whether the council’s decision should be overturned following a hearing in Telford on July 2, 2025.
A spokesperson for the Planning Inspectorate confirmed that a site visit is an “important component of the appeal process.”
Story & Pics by Paul Rogers – Local Democracy Reporter
