Current status: Answered by Ivan McKee on 13 August 2024
To ask the Scottish Government what policies it has in place to ensure that the development of battery energy storage systems does not have a negative impact on the availability of prime agricultural land.
National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4), published and adopted in February 2023, sets out at Policy 5 (Soils) that development proposals on prime agricultural land, or land of lesser quality that is culturally or locally important for primary use, as identified by the local development plan, will only be supported in limited circumstances. This includes for the generation of energy from renewable sources where there is secure provision for restoration and the layout and design of the proposal minimises the amount of protected land required.
All development proposals are subject to site specific assessments.