PLANS for a biogas plant at Crediton, capable of supplying enough gas for 5,000 homes, were revealed at a meeting of Crediton Town Council on Tuesday, February 16.

Those behind the energy plant plan, farmer and businessman Graham Kerslake, James Lloyd, CEO of Biowatt Group and Ed Heynes, director of Jillings Heynes Planning of Launceston and Exeter, presented their ideas and shared their visions and concept of the site to councillors so that they were aware of the plan before a planning application is submitted.

A total of 10 members of the public, a Mid Devon District Council planning officer and Mid Devon District Councillor Peter Heal attended to hear discussions for the plant on land adjoining the Lords Meadow Industrial Estate in Crediton.

Mr Lloyd said that the plan for an Anaerobic Digestion Plant would produce a biogas that could be cleaned on site and then fed directly into the main gas supply.

He said people should think of it as a natural form of solar energy, the sun’s energy rather than being put into growing either food for us or animals, but being used to grow plant matter, in the form of crops such as trees, grasses and maize.

FARM WASTES

He said that materials such as farm wastes and processing from farming manures could be used in the anaerobic digestion plant.

Mr Lloyd explained: “It is going to be a standard design. Instead of having 400 cows and feeding them with maize, we are going to have one big concrete cow, with one big stomach, and like a cow it will digest the matter.

“It will then produce digestate and gas.”

He said products would be transported by tractor and trailer to the site from farms within a 12-mile area (further than that being uneconomic) and that this would be stored in large silage-clamp-type facilities on site.

Mr Lloyd said the five-plus acre site was at the far end of the industrial estate on land owned by Downes Estate with access via the Link Road, Commonmarsh Lane and at the bottom of Down End.

EDGE OF TOWN

“The location is great because it is on the edge of town so we have no need to have our vehicles pass through the town centre at all, so it avoids any dangerous traffic issues,” he said.

He added that a traffic plan would be put in place so that the town centre is avoided by vehicles travelling to and from the site.

The meeting was told that some late evening maize harvesting traffic could take place at peak harvesting time but there was no intention to work through the night.

Mr Lloyd said the biogas product would be fed into the national grid: “Every hour, 365 days-a-year, seven-days-a-week and we will produce 490 cubic metres, which is enough to supply 5,000 homes.”

NO FOOD WASTE

Farmyard manure, straw bedding used by animals, cereals by-products such as from processing rape or barley but definitely no food waste would be used, it would only be dealing with agricultural materials.

He added that there would be no gas venting but there would be a small gas flare, but that there is no flame, that is within the digester.

He said there was a storage facility should maintenance or repair works be required on site and said the feed hopper would be the same as for cattle with spiral screws.

During questions from councillors and the public, Mr Lloyd confirmed that the site would be regulated by the Environment Agency and that the digestion process has to be done in an hermetically sealed vessel.

“We do not want any gas to escape, the smelly process would be inside this (the vessel),” he confirmed.

Asked about the possibility of fluid run-off, thinking of silage fluid and proximity to the river Creedy, Mr Lloyd said that the Environment Agency required a non-permeable surface on concrete pads and even liquid from the (silage) clamps would go into the digester.

“Everything is contained on site,” he added.

CONCERN ABOUT ODOUR EMISSIONS

Councillor Nick Way (Crediton Rural) said there were quite a lot of houses nearby and the councils have had quite a few complaints about the smell from the sewage works (adjoining the proposed site) in the past.

He said: “It is important there are no emission odours.”

Asking about traffic, he said there had been issues in the past with this, highlighting similar previous instances.

Mr Lloyd said: “Every single vehicle coming over

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the weigh bridge will have to prove it is local, otherwise we lose our subsidy.

“We are at the top of the tier one subsidy range and if we got bigger we would fall into tier two and it would not be economic for us to do this. There is not really another size up for this plant to go.”

VEHICLE MOVEMENTS

He then reassured councillors that the site would be regulated by the Environment Agency with regard to vehicle movements and criteria the agency may set.

Concerns about the site area being prone to flooding were raised by Mid Devon District Councillor Peter Heal.

Mr Heynes said that consultants would be dealing with this matter, adding that these issues would be part of the planning permission.

Mr Kerslake said at the back of Lords Meadow is a track that is owned by Downes Estate and subject to weather conditions, this could also be used to and from the site, if required.

Cllr Bill Dixon asked if the developers had spoken to South West Water and British Gas.

Mr Lloyd said developers have to go through a very formal and rigorous process and the Gas Board has said there is space (for their gas).

“They (the Gas Board) are very happy to work with us. The UK is ‘miles short’ of its gas target,” he said.

‘BEST LOCATION FOR SUCH A SITE’

Mr Kerslake, speaking to the Courier, said that it was a “good news story” for Crediton.

He added: “The important thing is the connectivity to the grid and gas lines.

“It is a major factor that the site proximity to the gas line is so close.

“It really is the best location for such a site at the end of the industrial estate away from homes. I doubt whether anyone could find a more suitable location, and all with good highway access via the Link Road.”

Mr Kerslake confirmed that some screening would be installed.

He said that a planning application would be submitted to Mid Devon District Council in a number of weeks, adding that if approved: “could be fully operational in a year”.

• What do you think of the plan for a biogas plant at Lords Meadow Industrial Estate? Share your views with fellow Courier readers.

Write a letter, suitable for publication, to: The Editorial Manager, Crediton Courier, 102 High Street, Crediton EX17 3LF or email: [email protected] .