The City of York Council granted Peel Environmental planning permission to build an anaerobic digestion (AD) and horticultural glasshouse facility on the former North Selby Mine site, Wheldrake on Thursday (25 April).
The planning committee voted nine votes to six in favour of the waste managemnt company’s plans to build the £23.5 million AD and glasshouse facility in the village of Wheldrake, just south of York.
Anaerobic digestion
According to Peel Environmental, the AD facility wil break down up to 60,000 tonnes of food waste collected from a range of commercial and industrial operations (such as restaurants, schools, food processing plants and supermarkets) and agricultural waste per year.
By seeing the food waste decompose in the presence of micro organisms (and in the absence of oxygen), the facility will produce biogas which will provide 2.75 megawatts of electricity – enough to power around 3500 homes. It is also estimated to produce 1.5 megawatts of heat.
The AD process will also produce up to 30,000 tonnes of digestate, which Peel Environmental says could be used by local farmers as biofertiliser.
Artist's impression of the North Selby Mine facility.
Horticultural glasshouse
A horticultural glasshouse, which will use some of the heat and electricity produced at the adjacent AD facility to grow tomatoes, will be also be developed at the North Selby site.
Howden-based company Plant Raisers will operate the greenhouse site, with any excess electricity exported to the National Grid via the existing on-site connection.
The use of greenhouses to grow produce using the heat from energy-from-waste plants has become more popular with waste management companies recently. In November 2012, SITA UK announced plans to grow up 7,500 tonnes of tomatoes in its greenhouse facility using heat produced at its Great Blakenham incinerator.
It is hoped that Peel Environmental’s AD and glasshouse could provide the council with a carbon saving of around 20,000 tonnes of CO2 per year.
According to the waste management company, the project will be financed through ‘private funds’, but the company is also investigating which technology providers and operators to partner with.
Opposition
According to the planning committee report recommending the approval of Peel Environmental’s plans, ‘the application has been strongly opposed by the local community’.
The North Selby Mine Action Group (NSMAG) encouraged residents to register their concerns resulting in ‘362 objections from the public'. Reportedly, MPs Julian Sturdy and Nigel Adams also wrote formal letters of objections.
Concerns were raised by NSMAG regarding the protection of the alleged ‘green belt’, which the site lies on. The group also said the increase of heavy goods vehicle movements on the access road could potentially impact on public health.
NSMAG said they were ‘bitterly disappointed’ with the City of York Council’s vote to approve the planning application and are now ‘considering [their] options’.
"Significant benefits”
However, according to Richard Barker, Development Manager of Peel Environment, the plant will bring “significant benefits” to the community, including the provision of up to 256 jobs during construction, 56 full time positions and 50 seasonal positions during operation.
Barker said: “We are pleased that City of York Council has approved our application for the North Selby AD and horticultural glasshouse facility. There are significant benefits that our plans will bring to the local area and we are keen to see these delivered.
“We are delighted that councillors have not only recognised the benefits of such a significant amount of private investment, but also the positive impact that this
facility will have on the environment…This will contribute to ambitious targets to reduce emissions and increase recycling in York and the surrounding areas.”
A report commissioned by Peel Environmental and carried out by Regeneris Consulting stated that the impact of the proposals could be in the region of £2.2 million Gross Value Added per year.
James Alexander, Labour Leader of City of York Council, added: “This is great news for York… We know this is a sensitive site and we will be encouraging residents and the developer to work together over mitigating the local impact. We look forward to working with Peel Environmental throughout the development of the new anaerobic digestion plant.”
Read more about Peel Environmental’s North Selby plans.
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