A site where many people have scattered loved one’s ashes is at risk of being ‘destroyed’ if a battery energy storage system (BESS) is built there, claim campaigners (Video: Sarah Leah Cobham).
Heath Common, often described as the jewel in Wakefield’s crown, is a rural village on the edge of Wakefield.
Wakefield Council’s planning and highways committee had unanimously voted against a recommendation to approve the scheme at Heath Common.
The scheme could still go ahead however, after applicant Harmony Energy lodged an appeal with the Planning Inspectorate due to a three-year delay with the council determining the application.
A public inquiry is expected to be held over the matter later this year.
Now villagers and historians say this area of significant historic interest could be destroyed if Harmony Energy, the company behind the BESS, is successful in their appeal.
In response to the claims, Harmony Energy said the proposed site is not taking up any of the public land mentioned. A spokesperson said: “The site sits between the traveller site and the substation (the latter being 3 x the size of our site). There is no direct access from the traveller site to ours; access to Heath is via a public footpath. “Our proposals do not affect community access. Conversely, the proposals aim to increase community accessibility to the site by creating a permissive footpath to the Dame Mary Bowles Water Tower, which will also be enhanced as part of the proposals - all publicly available. “The proposal is on private land adjacent to the substation. It is not Heath Common where the village fairs and events are held.”
00:00Can you tell me the history of Heath Connett, something about the history, about the importance of it?
00:07Heath Connett is the last place in Wakefield historically to have been enclosed.
00:16In fact, in 1844, there was a family that wanted to enclose the land.
00:22There was enormous hope out about it.
00:26And a guy called Illingworth, who actually lived in Heath, drew together all the objections.
00:33And it was the most supported objection in 1844 to prevent the enclosure of Heath Common.
00:41So since then, we've had rights to graze.
00:45We've had rights to walk.
00:47And on this very windy day, we have the rights to enjoy the kite festival, which is actually coming up on the 28th of September.
00:56And what's happening?
00:59Because the latest news that most people heard was that there was a planned battery farm and then it wasn't passed through planning committee.
01:06Where are we up to with that?
01:07So because the council missed the deadline to reject the application, Harmony Energy have o-elected the council, if you like, and applied to a planning inspectorate in Bristol.
01:26So what's happened now is that there is a planning inspectorate case, if you like, an inquiry into what's happened.
01:36And that starts on the 25th of November.
01:38And it's actually been extended into December because there's lots and lots of new evidence being put forward that the council did not put forward in the original documents.
01:52And that's where I come in.
01:54So that's where we're talking about the women's history in Heath, which is absolutely phenomenal.
02:01The women of Heath forged the village, saved the village and have sustained the village from as early as my research is showing, as early as the 14th, 15th century.
02:15So you've got what's called intangible heritage, which is equally important as tangible heritage.
02:26So the tangible heritage is buildings, but the intangible heritage are the stories that are attached to buildings and the actions of the women in this case that meant that this village has been saved as it is today.
02:42But it's not just the actions of saving the village, it's things like the personalities and the qualities of those women that have passed down and passed through into current generations.
02:56So you've got women who were engineers, you've got women who were botanical artists, like Eliza Eve Gleddle, who is in the old Kew Gardens on the way, effectively, the slave trade is bringing in all sorts of different fauna.
03:16You've got women like Dame Mary Bowles, who was the engineer, who was the engineer, but didn't just build the tower.
03:25So she was also a sanctuary at the time, and that led into the Benedictine nuns that were here, who were incredibly influential in the politics of the time.
03:37You cannot place a battery storage solution unit of 97 containers holding lithium batteries that are pollutants and potentially go on fire.
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