Agenda item

SITE

Land to the west of the Raymond Brown Waste Solutions, A303 Enviropark, Drayton Road, Barton Stacey, Andover, SO21 3QS  BARTON STACEY

PROPOSAL

A Waste to Energy Facility comprising a twin line facility (i.e. two boiler and flue gas treatment lines) capable of processing a total of up to 500,000

tonnes of waste per annum (tpa), with a gross electrical generating capacity of up to 65 MW. The facility would generate hot gases that in turn are used to produce steam for use in a steam turbine to generate electricity.

CASE OFFICER

Mrs Samantha Owen

That the Northern Area Planning Committee (NAPC) OBJECTS to this submission on the basis of inadequate information which has been submitted for Public Consultation including that contained within the PEIR.  It is strongly recommended that further consultation with the public should occur.  The NAPC endorses this report together with the full responses of consultees as Test Valley Borough Council’s response to the Public Consultation process.

The following consultee comments should be noted in particular:

• Air Quality - the PEIR is premature in presenting its work so far as it transpires that insufficient work has been undertaken to make any assessment in relation to the impact of the proposed development.
• It is considered that with regard to Noise and Vibration the information supplied within the PEIR is deficient. 
• Ground Contamination - the PEIR is premature in presenting its work so far as it transpires that insufficient work has been undertaken to make any assessment in relation to the impact of the proposed development.
• In relation to Socio-Economic issues the PEIR does not address adequately the impacts of the incinerator on tourism which is influenced by a number of factors and whilst this is acknowledged it is considered that more work is needed on the impact of tourism in the local area.
• With regard to Landscape and Visual Impact Assessment the PEIR is currently inadequate and significantly more work is required in order to fully assess the impact of the proposal on the surrounding landscape.

• Alternatives to the proposed location should have been shared at this stage through the PEIR and in accordance with the Infrastructure Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2017.
• The proposed development would reduce energy production at the solar farm by 0.55% and it is not clear if the proposed mitigation would address this shortfall.
• It is advised within the PEIR that connection to the grid will be applied for separately by the Distribution Network Operator (DNO).
  
  Due to its location connection to the grid could have significant environmental impacts and this should be considered in conjunction with the scheme.  It would appear to not accord with Government guidance on generating stations and grid connection contained within the relevant National Policy Statement

·  Water Demand - the PEIR’s contention that the impact on water resources and flood risk during construction, operation and decommissioning would not be significant does not appear to be justified by supporting evidence.  It would appear that the proposal would rely on significant amounts of water both during construction and during the operational phase which would place further pressure on this limited natural resource.

·  New thermal generating stations are required to consider the opportunities form Combined Heat and Power (CHP) from the very earliest point and should be adopted as a criterion when considering locations for a project.  With no end user for the heat generated the failure to take advantage of this potential energy source appears somewhat short sighted and does not help to justify this location and further opportunities for utilising this should be explored by the developer.

The full responses of the Council’s consultees and any public representations be forwarded to the applicant for their consideration.