PLANS to build an energy storing facility on green belt land in Feckenham have been given the green light.

Energy firm Statkraft applied to Redditch Borough Council to build the facility on green belt land south of Astwood Lane to manage energy and store battery technology.

The applicant said the project will support the flexible operation of the National Grid to balance supply and demand and help to decarbonise the electricity supply.

The plan was heard by Redditch Borough Council's planning committee on January 19, where councillors granted the scheme approval, with conditions.

The decision was deferred from last October's committee meeting amid concerns around HGV access to the site, to give the applicant time to provide more information about HGV movements.

It came as the application received 21 objections, including from Feckenham Parish Council who cited safety, location and design and environmental impact as their concerns.

Councillors approved an updated planning report that outlined six possible routes for HGV access after County Council highways reassessed the available routes.

The preferred option was for HGVs to travel to the site from the north via the A441 to The Ridgeway/Saltway junction to Rock Hill Lane.

The report concluded that the "environmental, economic, and social benefits" of the proposal outweighed "any impact caused by inappropriate development in the Green Belt".

Statkraft, which is Europe’s largest generator of renewable energy, say the Feckenham site has been selected due to its proximity to the existing substation which was deemed most suitable after an assessment of all the substations in the region and the needs of the transmission grid in the Midlands.

The development, known as a Greener Grid Park, would store, import, and export electricity but would not generate any additional electricity nor have any direct on-site emissions of CO2.