Council rejects plan for renewable energy plant

By david shepherd

PLANS to generate renewable energy from food and animal waste on land near Tiverton were turned down last week.

Winston Reed spent more than two years drawing up proposals for an anaerobic digestion plant at Gibbet Moor Farm, Rackenford, which could have provided 4.5megawatts of biogas every year, but was told by Devon County Council its scale would have an adverse visual impact on an area of open countryside and could set a precedent for future industrial development.

The county's development management committee also said the proposed location was not included in the county Waste Local Plan, and that there was no overriding need for a development of this scale.

And objector Richard Delf raised concerns about the welfare of grazing sheep and cattle if Tiverton Energy Centre was given the go-ahead — fears described by Mr Reed as "bizarre".

Mr Delf, who lives in Knowstone, reminded members at County Hall of "risks" associated with the plan, previously raised at a meeting at Templeton Village Hall in March.

He said: "I drew attention to the risk posed by using waste products from food processing plants and abattoir waste in the biodigester and, in particular, the possibility of disease escaping from the site and spreading to surrounding livestock farms.

"I also drew attention to past examples of this, mentioning the BSE crisis in the 1990s and the more recent 2001 foot and mouth outbreak. Many of us farmers have awful and harrowing memories of these events."

Mr Reed's plan, which received 181 letters of support and 42 objections, would have involved 11 silos where biodigestion would have taken place, each standing a maximum of 15m over ground level on a 6.4-hectare site on the Tiverton to Rackenford Road, south of the A361.

A yard and parking areas, a concrete hardstanding and a surface water attenuation feature with landscaping surrounding the site, would have also been provided.

Anaerobic digestion is widely used as a renewable energy source throughout Europe which produces a methane and carbon dioxide rich biogas suitable for energy production, helping to replace fossil fuels.

Mr Reed would have hoped to process 150,000 tons of waste, including cattle slurry and manure, poultry manure, food and milk waste, and grass and maize silage, every year.

He has yet to decide whether to appeal, but was astounded by the claims that the digester would endanger livestock.

He said: "That was bizarre; just unbelievable. There are 3,000 of these things in Germany and they haven't killed any wild animals.

"You have to have this on agricultural land as the by-product is fertiliser, so you can't have that on an industrial estate.

"ADBA (Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas Association) thought it was the best-thought-out anaerobic digestion plant it had seen, and for it to get refused is gut wrenching."

Cllr John Berry, who favoured the application, said members should accept that some schemes for sustainable energy might have to be built in open countryside.

"There have been no objections from National Heritage or the Highways Agency and Devon County Council has already had discussions with Mr Reed and he is quite happy to meet the officer's needs for landscaping at the site," he said.

Mr Reed believes the refusal is a major blow for Tiverton, both in terms of putting the town on the map for sustainable energy and the jobs it could have created, with about ten new employment opportunities at the plant itself.

He was surprised the council planning officer recommended refusal as other agencies had no objection.

"The irony about visual impact is that if it wasn't taking in food waste, it wouldn't be subject to Waste Planning Policy, so we are taking advice.

"We have to look a this carefully — has the planning officer made a mistake? Is planning policy going to change?

"Had we been able to inject gas to Tiverton, it would have made it more self-sufficient and have been something different for the UK."

Mr Reed said that if Government targets for renewable energy were to be met, changes to planning policy at a local level needed to be changed.