11:20am Thursday 10th November 2011
A WASTE firm has scaled back plans for an anaerobic digester near Sutton Courtenay after two public exhibitions in September.
Waste Recycling Group (WRG) wants to build the eco-power plant on its landfill site off Appleford Sidings.
The proposal, which will create renewable energy from crops grown on site, has been cut from a 30,000 tonnes-a-year capacity to one of 10,000 tonnes per year.
An exhibition of the new plans will take place at the site on Wednesday, November 23, from 2pm to 8pm.
The plant will initially process crops from neighbouring farms, with four or five deliveries a day, but will eventually only use crops grown on site.
Site business manager Rob Fluckiger said the firm was investing in renewable energy to cut carbon emissions.
He said: “At Sutton Courtenay we are keen to engage with the community to explain our plan that will help play its part in ensuring a sustainable future for the site.
“We have taken on board feedback from our neighbours, and we look forward to presenting the revised plans on November 23.”
WRG hopes to submit a planning application next month. The firm had a bid for a £20m waste treatment plant between Sutton Courtenay and Appleford rejected by Oxfordshire County Councillors in September.
Stewart Lilly, county council member for Sutton Courtenay and Harwell, said: “The activities of WRG in Sutton Courtenay have always been a close concern of Sutton Courtenay Parish council.”
He added: “There are already quite a number of anaerobic digesters throughout Oxfordshire. In this golden world we all live in we cannot keep shovelling coal into power stations.”
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