Perth and Kinross planners have been asked to consider noise mitigation measures at a battery energy storage system following a previous complaint.
Cllr Ian James said he had not realised how noisy the cabinets were until he visited a site last year.
Sunshine Project 01 Ltd has submitted a pre-application notice to Perth and Kinross Council for plans to install a 49.9MW battery energy storage system on land near Monorgan Farm, Longforgan.
At a meeting of PKC’s Planning and Placemaking Committee on Wednesday, January 8 councillors were invited to highlight issues they would like to see considered as part of the planning process.
At a committee meeting last September, Cllr Ian James told councillors he was “astounded” and “shocked” by the noise when he visited a battery energy storage system in Coupar Angus. t this week’s meeting he asked for consideration to be given to noise mitigation measures at the Longforgan proposal.
He added: “There was a facility at Coupar Angus which was the subject of a noise complaint and – until I physically visited it myself – I didn’t actually realise just how much noise these cabinets make.”
In September 2024, the Planning and Placemaking Committee granted planning permission to extend a battery storage facility in Coupar Angus, which an objector said was destroying his life. The exasperated resident told councillors the “whirring noise and subterranean rumbling” coming from the site was both “unacceptable and constant”. Cllr James voted for refusal.
At Wednesday’s meeting, Conservative councillor David Illingworth called for consideration to be given to the screening of the site and the routing of cabling to the substation “to try to avoid digging up roads”.
Carse of Gowrie ward councillor Ken Harvey highlighted “fairly narrow access roads and an already notable problem on roads around the Carse”.
The local SNP councillor asked planners to “take due cognisance of the actual transportation particularly during construction when I expect there will be quite large vehicles coming down this narrow road”.
A planning consultation meeting that was due to take place on December 14 at Errol Village Hall did not take place due to unforeseen circumstances. Following feedback at the first public exhibition on November 26 – that Errol
Village Hall was not a practical location – and the cancellation of the second event, two more events were scheduled.
An alternative meeting took place on January 8 at Longforgan Bowling Club. The next consultation event will take place on Wednesday, January 22 at Longforgan Bowling Club from 1pm to 7pm.