We asked Energy Consents Unit to give information, for all the Battery storage installations consented by ECU, on whether they are in (wholly or partially) a designated Green Belt.

The response was “The Energy Consents Unit (ECU) does not hold the information that you have asked for, specifically whether consented projects are wholly or partially in designated Green Belt areas. This is not information that we specifically request from applicants as part of the application process and there is no business need to maintain a database of this information.”

This is very useful information for us as it shows that ECU are not paying attention to whether any of their sites are on Green Belt or not. Which is one of the things that they should be considering in her decision making according to NPF4.