A battery energy storage system (BESS) proposed at Bowenhurst has gone to appeal, alongside a separate planning application for the site, prompting fresh concern from residents about the cumulative impact of development on Mill Lane.

The scheme, application reference 25/01186/FUL at Hart District Council, is for a battery storage facility with ancillary infrastructure, including security fencing, access, landscaping and biodiversity enhancements, to provide balancing services to the local electricity grid.

The appeal, reference 6012351, will be determined on the basis of written representations. Anyone wishing to comment, or modify or withdraw a previous representation, can do so online, with all submissions required by Thursday, August 13.

Previous objections will also be made available to the planning inspector.

Jason Baldry, who is fronting the latest phase of opposition to the scheme, said the site had become surrounded by industrial development. He described Mill Lane as a rural hamlet in the Hampshire countryside that has seen little respite from nearby infrastructure, including increased flights from Farnborough Airport.

Hart’s landscape officer previously concluded that the proposal would introduce around 1.5 kilometres of security fencing, including more than 1.3 kilometres of acoustic fencing, bringing "strong industrial features" into a rural landscape and comparing its appearance to motorway fencing.

Mr Baldry said: "My concern was not with battery storage sites in principle, but with their location," adding that he was aware of alternative land offered for such use that had been dismissed because of higher connection costs.

Resident Ann Linwood said: "Nothing has changed from before. We still believe it is the wrong location for one of these sites. They've obviously had a rethink and come up with a slightly more cohesive application than they had previously. But it doesn't make any difference, really."

He said the new application proposed a smaller footprint than the scheme currently under appeal, but expressed concern that an area left undeveloped within the site could form the basis of a future second-phase application.

The scheme was refused by Hart District Council's Development Management Committee in February after councillors raised concerns about its cumulative impact on the landscape, residential amenity and what they described as the industrialisation of a rural area.

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During the meeting, members also voiced concerns over noise, fire safety, water run-off, the scale of the development and whether the national need for the facility outweighed its local impact.