DISTRICT planners have made a decision on underground oil storage tanks that date back to the Second World War.
Large concrete tanks, covered with earth, are located at a former oil storage depot in Saxons Lode, near Upton upon Severn.
The facility was part of a network called the Government Pipeline and Storage System (GPSS), built in the 1930s and 40s to avoid having to transport fuel by road in case of aerial attacks.
ENTRANCE: A door leading to underground oil tanks (Image: Fatydam 2 Ltd)
Now owned by Spanish multinational Exolum, the pipelines still run throughout Worcestershire.
The tanks at Saxons Lode are believed to be empty, having been mothballed in the early 1990s.
According to Malvern Hills District Council, there are five rectangular storage tanks each with a capacity of about five million litres.
There is also a 20,000-gallon tank above ground in the southeast part of the site, consisting of a concrete basin inside a metal fence.
MOTHBALLED: The facility was shut in the 1990s (Image: Fatydam 2 Ltd)
“Road loading was in use until mothballing of the site in the early 1990s when site operations ceased.”
Planners were asked to consider whether the site should be granted a certificate of lawfulness – a legal document confirming an existing, proposed or past development is lawful in planning terms.
In this case, no change of use has been proposed and there has been no other use at the site since operations ceased in the 1990s.
“As the site has not been in operation for a considerable duration of time, without a change of use to any other use, an assessment must be made to determine whether the use of the site has been abandoned, as well as a determination as to which use class it would fall into,” the council said.
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“There is no recorded planning permission for the use of the site recorded on the council’s planning system as the GPSS was mainly built on privately owned land and constructed through a mix of legislation and private agreements.
“As such, while there is no permission to refer to, the use of the site as part of the GPSS was permitted and has not been subject to any change in the use of the land.”
Planners decided to issue a certificate of lawfulness for an existing use of storage and distribution.
