PLANNERS have refused a Pembrokeshire ‘battery box’ electricity storage unit near a Pembrokeshire town school, which has seen local objections including fears of a potential risk to nearby school children.

In an application recommended for approval at the December meeting of Pembrokeshire County Council’s planning committee, AMP Clean Energy sought permission for a micro energy storage project on land at Fishguard Leisure Centre Car Park, near Ysgol Bro Gwaun.

The application had previously been recommended for approval at the November meeting, but a decision was deferred pending a site visit.

The scheme is one of a number of similar applications by AMP, either registered or approved under delegated planning powers by officers.

The battery boxes import electricity from the local electricity network when demand for electricity is low or when there are high levels of renewable energy available, exporting it back during periods of high demand to help address grid reliability issues; each giving the potential to power 200 homes for four hours.

The Fishguard scheme, which has seen objections from the town council and members of the public, was before committee at the request of the local member, Cllr Pat Davies.

Fishguard and Goodwick Town Council objected to the proposal on grounds including visual impact, and the location being near the school.

An officer report said the scheme would be well screened by a Paladin Fence, with a need to be sited close to an existing substation.

Speaking at the December meeting, Ben Wallace of AMP Clean Energy conceded the boxes were “not things of beauty” before addressing previously raised concerns of any potential fire risk, saying that “in the incredibly unlikely” event of a fire, the system would contain it for up to two hours, giving “plenty of time” for it to be extinguished, an alarm immediately sounding, with the fire service raising no concerns.

“These are fundamentally safe, the technology is not new,” he said, comparing them to such batteries in phones and laptops.

One of the three objectors at the meeting raised concerns of the proximity to homes and the school, describing it as “an unsafe, unsustainable and unnecessary location,” with Cllr Jim Morgan of Fishguard Town Council, who had previously raised concerns of the “nightmare scenario” of a fire as children were leaving the school, also voicing similar issues.

Local county councillor Pat Davies, who had spoken at the previous meeting stressing she was not against the technology, just the location and the potential risk to pupils, said the siting would be “a visual intrusion,” with the school having many concerns about the scheme, adding it had been “brought forward without any dialogue of consultation with the school”.

Cllr Davies added: “It is unacceptable that a micro-storage unit should be proposed in this area; someone somewhere has got it wrong.”

Following a lengthy debate, committee chair Cllr Mark Carter proposed going against officers in refusing the scheme; members unanimously refusing the application.

AN APPLICATION for a wind turbine nearly 250 foot high on the road to Tenby, recommended to be turned down due to a lack of information on how it could affect bats, has been put on hold.

In an application recommended for refusal at the December meeting of Pembrokeshire County Council’s planning committee, Constantine Wind Energy Ltd sought permission for a 76-metre-high wind turbine at Summerton Farm, Sageston.

Back in 2024, an application to replace a current 60.5m high turbine on the site with one up to 90 metres, or just under 300 foot, at the site was refused on the grounds its height and scale would have a detrimental impact on the visual amenity of the locality, with the additional clause of failing to comply with supplementary guidance.

A report for committee members on the latest application says the smaller turbine than previously proposed, representing a 16-metre increase in height from a previously granted turbine “would not be sufficient for it to become an overbearing feature in the landscape,” with no objections from either the Council Landscape Officer or Natural Resources Wales.

However, concerns were raised by the council ecologist that the applicant’s Preliminary Ecological Appraisal Report was incomplete.

“The Council Ecologist questions why the response received in relation to myotis bat records were not included within the initial PEA.  As such, he considers that the PEA does not present enough information on the possible presence of bats within the application site area.

“Whilst there may be negligible foraging and commuting potential, there are records of foraging on grassland within two kilometres which have positive identification of myotis bat foraging, along with greater and lesser horseshoe bat foraging.  He also notes that the application site is in close proximity to a wooded area.”

It was recommended for refusal on the grounds that appraisal report, and technical note, “do not adequately address the impact of the proposed wind turbine on bat activity in the area”.

At the committee meeting, members heard the scheme had been temporarily withdrawn to deal with issues raised, the application expected to return to a future meeting.

OFFICER success in attracting grant funding which has helped Pembrokeshire buy nearly £.5m in council housing in the last six months, has been praised by senior councillors.

A report presented by deputy leader Cllr Paul Miller at the December 1 meeting of Pembrokeshire County Council’s Cabinet gave members details of acquisitions and disposals in the first six months of the current financial year.

It included the purchase of 16 properties for council housing stock, to the tune of £3,470,000 and the disposal of two industrial estate plots at Waterloo, Pembroke Dock, at some £278,400.

Properties purchased are: 32 Southdown Close, Pembroke, at £115,000; 8 Hyfrydle, Letterston at £115,000; 6 Precelly Place, Milford Haven at £120,000; 50 Heywood Court, Tenby at £125,000; 33 Croft Avenue, Hakin at £130,000; 7 Hyfrydle, Letterston at £135,000; 18 St Clements Park, Freystrop at £140,000; 55 College Park, Neyland at £140,000; 26 Baring Gould Way, Haverfordwest at £146,000; 25 Station Road, Letterston at £170,000; 16 Woodlands Crescent, Milford Haven at £283,000; 26 & 27 Harcourt Close, Hook at £744,000; and 23, 24 And 25 Harcourt Close, Hook at £1,107,000.

Of the purchases, £1,851,000 is made up of five properties in Hook.

Members noted the report, Cabinet Member for Housing Cllr Michelle Bateman saying the grants-supported acquisitions programme was “increasing the supply of tenancies across the county”.

Leader Cllr Jon Harvey praised “wizards in attracting grant aid” officer success in accessing funding, adding the purchases would not stop the council continuing to build new properties across the county.

Back in September, Cabinet members backed a recommendation to enter into an agreement for the acquisition of up to 16 new build housing units as an off the shelf deal at Harcourt Close, Hook.

The proposal was the second social housing scheme recommended for approval by members at that meeting; councillors having earlier backed a scheme for the purchase of 21 affordable homes, along with an option for four intermediate units on land at Sandyhill, Saundersfoot.