Objectors ‘absolutely gutted’ as Chorley biogas facility rejection overturned
The Planning Inspectorate has approved an anaerobic digestion complex in the Green Belt between Coppull and Adlington after Lancashire County Council had refused permission for the project last year.
WCK Farming, part of local farming business J&B Woodcock & Sons, wants to build a biogas facility on 11 acres east of Wigan Lane close to the gas pipeline network that would be capable of processing around 300,000 tonnes of agricultural byproducts a year to produce biomethane, an alternative for natural gas, and fertiliser for use on local farmland.
Read the inspector’s full report
Lancashire County Council said the project, which features eight 32-metre-diameter and 16-metre-high digestate tanks, would amount to inappropriate development in the Green Belt.
The planning inspector presiding over the case concluded that the site itself could be considered Grey Belt within a wider area of Green Belt, adding that the project would cause “significant harm” to the Green Belt.
The inspector added that the proposal “would also cause significant harm to the character and appearance of the area”.
However other factors outweighed that harm including the scheme’s “contribution as a renewable energy project to local and national net zero ambitions” and job creation, resulting in the appeal being allowed.
Energy Planning, part of PWA Planning, advised the appellant.
County councillor Cllr Kim Snape said on social media that she was “furious and absolutely gutted” about the decision.
“Sadly the inspector has approved the anaerobic digester application for Wigan Lane,” she said. “This means the decision that the democratically elected planning committee took last year at Lancashire County Council to refuse the planning application has been overturned.
“We completely disagree with the inspectors view and are astounded that she has come to the conclusion that the special circumstances the applicant has put forward for the site outweigh the harm to greenbelt and local area.”
The greenbelt and our countryside have been protected for generations. What gives Labour the right to tear up the rulebook and put these areas at risk of development? There is no clear mandate for sacrificing the very landscapes that communities have worked so hard to preserve. People will remember this at the next general election.
By Geoff Lewis
“This means the decision that the democratically elected planning committee took last year”. Problem is, these planning committee’s usually do not have a clue what they are talking about and are swayed by locals living next to them. The sooner there is a joined up central planning committee the better. This way we will not have biased NIMBY Councillors (Such as Cllr Snape) making decisions.
By Anon
And the the Planning Inspectorate does? They don’t have a clue if local circumstances and in another region the next day. Time they were reformed .
By Frank