A battery storage project is being planned for land near Brown Edge, according to new documents on the district council's website.

The proposed project was revealed as a screening opinion for an environmental impact assessment was submitted to the council.

The applications are used to determine whether an environmental impact assessment will be required for certain projects before a full planning application is submitted.

The application was submitted by renewable energy company Anesco, who have plans for a battery storage project on land off Bemersley Road, near Brown Edge.

An important development in the advancement of green energy, battery storage projects allow energy from renewable sources such as wind and solar to be stored and then released later when needed.

The application explains that the project would have the capacity to power over 13,000 homes every year, and that its construction would take around seven months.

A statement prepared as part of the application says: "We consider this to be a suitable location for this type of development given that the site is located away from landscape, ecological, and heritage designations.

"At only 2 hectres the site can be suitably integrated within the surrounding landscape and ensuring there should be no significant effects to the environment.

"Even though the site sits within the local green belt, the proposed area is already well screened from the surrounding landscape, and we will be including additional mitigation that will be proposed alongside our planning application. The site is also to be shown of special circumstance for the storage and export of energy."

In response, the council's planning officers have since determined that an environmental impact assessment will not be required for the project.

They concluded: "It is considered that the development would not be likely to have EIA significant effects on the environment by virtue of factors such as its nature, size or location.

"The development would not be of more than local importance and would not involve unusually complex and potentially hazardous environmental effects."