14/04/2026
Thank you for your support over the past 4 years of this campaign Samantha Harvey for Wakefield West
Delighted to speak at the Planning Inquiry to defend the historic open space of Heath Common today. I Love Heath Common
Developers want to install a large industrial lithium battery energy storage site in the former parkland of Heath Old Hall, along with a new HGV access road that crosses part of Heath Common.
Just like Thornes park in Wakefield West, Wakefield Council Heath is a truly important public recreational space. A place to go clear your head, a popular local meeting spot, a place where you can pass your time for FREE in a time of rising prices!
Many in Wakefield have happy memories of Heath, from the Easter Fair to the Kite Festival, playing in the Old Hall Ruins, Morris Dancers, Classic Car Meets, or ghost stories!
The main footpath from City Fields would be blighted by the proposed industrial BESS site, as would the trans pennine trail.
If a village with 40 Listed Buildings that is a popular local attraction cannot be protected from industrial development, then what green spaces will we have left in a few years?
I hope the Inspector listens to the views of thousands of residents who have taken the time to object to the plans and make their voices heard.
It’s time that OUR green spaces are protected and OUR interests are respected. Our government and planning system should work for US.
Here is the full speech that I gave at the Public Inquiry today:
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Inspector
Thank you for allowing me to speak today. Having served as a District Councillor of eight years for another part of Wakefield, I’m here to speak to the significant value that this historic landscape has on THOUSANDS across the Wakefield District.
The proposed BESS, in the heart of the historic landscape, blighting the route from the City Fields homes to Heath by foot and also the main approach to Heath by vehicle.
You will have seen the level of objection received to the original planning application. FIVE of the areas MPs objected as so many of their respective constituents got in contact and urged them to do so.
It’s hard to find someone from Wakefield who doesn’t have at least one happy memory of Heath Common. The green lung of Wakefield: home to the Easter Fair, Kite Festival, Old Hall ruins, Morris Dancing, pints at The Kings Arms, Skinny Living gigs on the Common, and too many ghost stories to list! These memories are embedded in our very DNA and make us who we are.
This is no ordinary village. This village is a PUBLIC GOOD.
Heath Common is a haven of tranquillity, somewhere to escape when you need to clear your head or get some peace. It’s a popular family destination and an established meeting spot for friends. It’s Wakefield’s little piece of historic England - all just a stone’s throw away from the loud and busy city centre.
This would be the first modern built development that divides this historic landscape.
This application should not be approved lightly. This inquiry must have regard to the impact on the built heritage, recreational use, and landscape issues.
The applicants say they’ll screen it in ten years - if so ten years is a very long time for someone coming to Heath for a drink and some headspace when them or their relative is terminally ill.
They say the permission is temporary and for 40 years. That’s an entire generation who will have a distorted understanding of what this landscape is - will be shown that built heritage - 40 historic England listings are not as important as they ought to be.
Sir, I therefore urge you to protect this irreplaceable asset for future generations, and conclude that the harm to our heritage far outweighs the benefit of this scheme.
This landscape has stood for centuries. Do not let its legacy be defined by a forty years mistake. I plead you to dismiss this appeal.
