Archive - Saturday, 26 November 2011


Find by date

Other ways to search

Also look for

Never miss anything again. Sign up for our RSS news feeds and Newsletters.

Villagers unconvinced by eco-power plant

VILLAGERS remain opposed to plans to build a new eco-power plant at a landfill site near Didcot.

Callum MacKenzie Callum MacKenzie

They spoke out against the proposal for the anaerobic digester after a consultation exhibition at the headquarters of the Waste Recycling Group (WRG) – which runs the site – off Appleford Sidings.

The size of the digester, which will create renewable energy from crops, has been cut from 30,000 tonnes a year capacity to 10,000 tonnes, but people living in neighbouring villages are still opposed to the plan.

This has been partly prompted by a sickening smell pervading villages including Sutton Courtenay in recent weeks from composting on the landfill site.

Father-of-one Callum MacKenzie, 56, of Drayton Road, Sutton Courtenay, who attended the exhibition on Wednesday, said: “I thought the consultation exercise was pretty poor.

“WRG’s site is quite remote and hard to get to and the exhibition should have been held in one of the village halls.

“When there was a consultation on the original proposal for the digester, Sutton Courtenay village hall was so packed with people that WRG were inundated with comments.

“In theory, a digester like this is a good idea but we want this land to be returned to a greenfield site, instead of turning into a massive waste tip on our doorsteps.

“The terrible smells from the composting have not filled me with confidence about WRG’s activities.”

Angela Jones, 52, parish councillor for Appleford, who also attended the exhibition, added: “The difficulty the company has been experiencing lately impacts on the trust we have in them managing other undertakings like this digester.

“We have been ringing up quite frequently in recent weeks about the smell.

“Although this is a scaled-down application, once it has been approved WRG could try to expand the work they are doing.”

According to WRG, anaerobic disgestion technology has been used for many years and is safe and clean to use.

The firm is planning to submit a planning application for the digester to Vale of White Horse District Council next month.

If planning permission is granted, the facility will be operating by next autumn.

WRG’s head of bio-energy Dr Mike Bullar said: “We have been listening to the concerns of people at the exhibition.

“It’s important to realise that this is not a waste facility, it’s an agricultural facility which takes agricultural materials in to produce fertiliser and energy, including electricity.”

WRG had a bid for a £20m waste treatment plant between Sutton Courtenay and Appleford rejected by county councillors in September.

affrench@oxfordmail.co.uk


Comments (5)

26/11/11

Jacks son says...

....I'm kin of agree with a few issues - living in town nearby we often get a "weird" smell...which I believe is the composting, however my main concern is that IF there really IS an issue about global warming etc...the use of land to grow crops to provide energy is a poor poor use of a valuable resource.

Still...as long as someone somewhere is making a shed load of money...let's not worry about the bigger issues.

27/11/11

Megs says...

I was able to attend WRG/FCC's first exhibition about this proposal as it was held in my local village hall and I could walk there. At this I found out from WRG that it does not run an anaerobic digester "anywhere in the world". This would be a new experiement for this company, which, lamentably, has been unable to demonstrate complete competence in any of its operatioms - the landfill (flood problems) and composter (smells) locally and incinceration elsewhere. In fact the Environment Agency informs me that WRG have a number of environmental breach notices served against them. The EA also said that these days permission would not be granted for some of WRG's operations so near to people. If WRG are going to experiement with a new (to them) operation they should do it many miles from human beings.
I was unable to attend the second, unhelpfully located, exhibition but I have noted from reports of it that not one of the suggestions I made at the first were incorporated. (NB, WRG does not "consult" it simply tells people what it is going to do.)
Yes, there are energy security problems, but there are also food security problems which will escalate very soon. It is better to leave designated agricultural land for the purpose of growing food, rather than change the use so that industrial energy plants can be placed on this and use brownfield sites for such operations. No one should be fooled by WRG's extensive use of the word "agricultural" - they propose an industrial plant for a green site - as usual.

28/11/11

ClaireW1 says...

Jacks son wrote:
....I'm kin of agree with a few issues - living in town nearby we often get a "weird" smell...which I believe is the composting, however my main concern is that IF there really IS an issue about global warming etc...the use of land to grow crops to provide energy is a poor poor use of a valuable resource. Still...as long as someone somewhere is making a shed load of money...let's not worry about the bigger issues.
Having lived next to WRG for a number of years I have experienced no problems with smell yes there is a occasional smell but this is no worse than any other countryside smell which is to be expected as we live in the countryside! If they are building a plant that will use renewable energy then this can only be a good thing its a way forward for the future.

28/11/11

ClaireW1 says...

ClaireW1 wrote:
Jacks son wrote: ....I'm kin of agree with a few issues - living in town nearby we often get a "weird" smell...which I believe is the composting, however my main concern is that IF there really IS an issue about global warming etc...the use of land to grow crops to provide energy is a poor poor use of a valuable resource. Still...as long as someone somewhere is making a shed load of money...let's not worry about the bigger issues.
Having lived next to WRG for a number of years I have experienced no problems with smell yes there is a occasional smell but this is no worse than any other countryside smell which is to be expected as we live in the countryside! If they are building a plant that will use renewable energy then this can only be a good thing its a way forward for the future.
Having lived next to WRG for a number of years I have experienced no problems with smell yes there is a occasional smell but this is no worse than any other countryside smell which is to be expected as we live in the countryside! If they are building a plant that will use renewable energy then this can only be a good thing its a way forward for the future.”

29/11/11

callum1 says...

You might revise your opinion when the leachate from the large build up of digestate which will have to be stored not only stinks but ruins the local waterways. This is not some time honoured local agricultural activity but a new , problem strewn stunt attempted merely to make a financial asset, namely the site at Sutton Courtenay, sweat.