Letter to the Guardian

Adam Morton's article (5/2/21) on the proposed $2.4bn battery in Hunter Valley, New South Wales highlights the issue of 'green-on-green' disputes arising from the planning of increasingly large battery storage systems. This opposition in Australia by wildlife groups to an essentially green energy project parallels the situation at Cleve Hill near Faversham, Kent. Here the Government has recently approved the construction of what will when built, be one of the largest solar plants in Europe with the world's largest storage battery. This massive scheme has been strongly opposed by among others an alliance of wildlife preservation, green and environmental organisations. This opposition is on the grounds of threat to endangered species, incompatibility with biodiversity objectives, loss of habitat and danger to life which it is felt outweighs the benefits of large-scale solar power and associate batteries. As economics drive massive green energy schemes can we hope for a more sophisticated green vs green analysis in future?

Sir David Melville CBE
Faversham Society