Tuesday 14 February 2017

Latest on biogas plant at Higher Fraddon


Today I met with staff at Cornwall Council for an update on what is happening with the various conditions relating to the consent for the biogas plant.

Here is a summary, which I hope will be useful.

Condition 1 states that the dome on the secondary digester should be reduced by 3.1m and this must be completed within nine months of the date of the planning permission (which was 28 September 2016).

Greener for Life are in breach of condition 4 which states that: “Within four months of the date of this permission, a detailed ‘Construction Management Plan' … shall be submitted to and approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority (LPA) for the reduction in height of the secondary digester and other necessary construction works including surface water drainage and the commissioning phase of the anaerobic digester plant.” This should have been sent in by the end of January, but this has not yet been received.

Condition 6 deals with surface water management. Information has been submitted and there have been detailed discussions with the Council’s drainage officer. She requested additional information earlier this month and the discussions continue.

Condition 14 deals with traffic movements and the unitary authority has been unhappy with what has been submitted by Greener for Life. The information that has been submitted is not consistent with what they said during the previous application and appeal processes. Discussions with the Council’s highway officers are ongoing.

Condition 16 covers the need for a vehicle management policy. The Council raised some concerns about the initial submission from Greener for Life and a revised scheme was received earlier today. This has been referred to the Highways team for feedback.

Condition 17 meanwhile covers landscaping. The Council’s landscaping team felt the proposed scheme left a lot to be desired and requested a revised scheme about two weeks ago.

Finally, condition 20 relates to the odour management plan. A revised document was received last Friday and has been referred to the Council’s Public Health and Protection team. This includes: “details of covered storage on site for all imported material for approval … covered storage means that all waste and biocrops imported by lorry shall be stored either inside the main reception building or that the outside storage bays where the biocrops are currently stored shall be roofed and walled.”

It is clear that Greener for Life have no intention of storing the “biocrops” in their main building and their latest odour management plan includes the details for the covering of the external storage area.

Greener for Life are pushing for a decision on this. The details can be found on the planning portal under the planning reference PA16/11310. If you have any comments on this – let me know what you think.

In addition, Greener for Life have submitted a new planning application to increase the number of “staff/other vehicle movements (Light Goods Vehicles) from 7 per week to an average of 17 staff/other vehicle movements (Light Goods Vehicles) per week (over a 4 week monthly period) to a maximum of 24 in any given week (Monday to Sunday) in the 4 week period.”

The reference number is PA17/01086 and the information can be viewed on the Council’s planning portal.

It will come as a surprise to no-one that the information in this new planning application contradicts what Greener for Life were saying in the period before they were granted planning permission.

I can further report that St Enoder Parish Council will be discussing the application at its meeting on 28th February, which will take place at Fraddon Village Hall. The meeting will start at 7.00.

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