For once Frome does not want to be leading the way in something; that was the message from the council who were discussing plans to build a battery storage plant on the edge of Frome using largely untested new technology .

The plans have been roundly condemned by residents who would live just metres from the site saying the plant will be dangerous, noisy, and a frightening prospect for those with children.

The horrors of what could go wrong, and who would deal with a fire on site, were summed up in an impassioned plea at the latest planning meeting of Frome Town Council on the proposals for land adjacent to Styles Close.

The hazards of the proposal, which is being planned by Trina Solar, was first outlined by a local resident who said Frome should not be a guinea pig for a system which he claimed was covered by an "inadequate, remotely-managed fire control system."

Fires of the batteries have been in the news recently and last year a facility like the one proposed for Frome went up in flames and took firefighters in Merseyside, 59 hours to extinguish.

Potentially poisonous

He said to councillors: " They left it to just burn out, but there is just one evacuation point and a flight of stairs down to Rodden Road... it is a literal time bomb waiting to go off."

He asked councillors to research the acid which is released when batteries are soaked in water and also questioned the morality of the company behind the scheme, adding that as a new arrival in Frome he would never have moved there if he had known this storage site was being planned.

There was a lot of debate about the process of storing power, and hiding behind green credentials, with many at the packed Town Hall meeting asking not just about the hours when the facility might be operating, and the noise from it, but also why it was not sited closer to any solar farm. The plans 2023/1070/FUL HERE do include an acoustic fence, but locals were united in fearing that it will make little difference.

Councillors explained to the Town Hall attendees that Frome Town Council only has an advisory role in planning decisions so it can recommend, but not stop, a planning application.

The company behind the scheme, which is UK listed but is under the governance of a Chinese group, has now been invited to the next Frome planning meeting to give councillors more detailed plans, with representatives also invited to attend a site visit to address the residents' concerns.

The residential site on the edge of Frome towards Chapmanslade is a cul de sac

The Mayor of Frome Philip Campagna told the meeting that the council was supportive of green energy but asked whether the site could be better placed next to a solar farm. The other Somerset-based battery storage site near near to Taunton, which was given planning permission in November last year and is about the same size is further from residential homes.

Cllr Polly Lamb of the council said: " This a complex technical system and we need clear, and the right information to make a decision," while the former Mayor of Frome Mark Dorrington pointed out that the council was generally supportive of applications which brought jobs to the town it seemed that this facility, beyond the initial laying of tarmac to the site, would be controlled remotely.

Cllr Steve Tanner said: " Frome is at the forefront of so many things but as a guinea pig we need answers so that we can understand what is the impact going to be (of siting the battery storage plant here)." Suggesting that any council recommendation be deferred until they knew more. " We need to get more information from the company," he said, and added that they will be invited to the next planning meeting on August 10.

On top of many objections posted on the planning portal other risks are listed :

High voltage overhead cables with periodic bird strikes. • Noise pollution from the cooling fans, and inverters running 24/7, especially during the summer months. • Light pollution from sensor lights • The visual impact of a five metre high acoustic fence that will surround the field, which will be made of flammable timber.

In the application, for the 0.9 hectare site, the company pointed out that in February 2019, Mendip Council (now Somerset Council) declared a climate emergency and battery storage is part of the move to greener energy.

Trina Solar UK writes: "It is clear that significant effort will be required in order to continuously reduce carbon emissions within the district. The development of electricity infrastructure such as energy storage that helps the move towards zero carbon will aid in the overall reduction and should be seen as priority infrastructure for the district."

FTC heard that the application will almost certainly go to the planning board, but there was some confusion about how that would work. Cllr Helen Kay, who is one of four Frome councillors who sit on that planning board, promised to find out why some residents were not notified of the planning application and how they would now be better informed how East Somerset planning applications are being dealt with now Mendip no longer exists.