East Renfrewshire Council has granted planning permission for a controversial battery energy storage facility in Eaglesham.
At a meeting of the council's Planning Applications Committee on Tuesday 15th April, the second planning application to construct a 40MW battery plant at the greenfield site on Glasgow Road and adjacent to the Belle Craig roundabout was approved on the casting vote of the chair.
The first planning application from the developer was voted down by the Planning Applications Committee in October 2024.
The developer subsequently appealed the council's decision to The Scottish Government Reporter and there is yet to be an outcome through this process.
Around 315 objections were submitted to the council for the second and near identical application compared to approximately 250 for the first proposal.
Local MSP Jackson Carlaw objected to both applications and he has conveyed his dismay that planning permission has been awarded.
Scottish Conservative MSP for Eastwood, Jackson Carlaw said:
"Two Labour councillors and one former SNP councillor who now sits as an independent have shamefully voted through the second planning application for a battery energy storage facility in Eaglesham.
"The first application remains with the Reporter and the council’s initial refusal could still be upheld through this process but in any event, the developer now has planning permission.
"On the planning casefile for the second application on the council’s website, it shows more than 300 objections have been submitted by local people and residents are clear that they do not want Eastwood’s greenbelt eroded through the introduction of a battery plant.
"In the week before the council granted planning permission, there was a major fire with a facility using lithium-ion batteries in Kilwinning and this highlights the danger posed by battery plant type systems.
"To vote through the repeat planning application shows a complete disregard for legitimate public safety concerns by the Labour and independent councillors.
"As the Labour Administration has demonstrated through continuing with uncaring proposals to charge East Renfrewshire’s most vulnerable for non-residential care services, their councillors simply don’t care about the views of local people or doing what is right for our communities."
