Farmyard power plant scheme thrown out

PLANS to set up an electricity generating plant on a farm have been thrown out by Warrington planning chiefs.
The borough council’s development management committee rejected the scheme at New Hall Farm, School Lane, Birchwood.
Birchwood Town Council had lodged objections – along with 31 nearby residents. There were concerns about noise, air quality and highways issues.
The committee was told the plan involved the use and extension of a barn in the farm yard, which occupied either side of School Lane.
Electricity would be generated from gas and stored in batteries. There would be four containerised gas generators and radiators, two transformers, two substations in an electrical container, two oil tanks, one gas kiosk, a battery energy storage system in three containers and a gated entrance and acoustic fencing
Purpose of the development was to generate electricity to be fed into the National Grid via the local distribution network This would enable the Grid to be managed more effectively, reducing blackouts at times of peak demand.
The installation would be operation for 25, in addition to a year for construction and a year for decommissioning, after which the site would returned to agriculture.
It was claimed the project would generate between 9,000MWh and 12,000MWh per year of renewable and low carbon energy.
But objectors claimed this was misleading as the project would be fuelled by gas generatros that were neither renewable nor low carbon.
They stated: “Renewable technologies use natural energy to make electricity. Fuel sources include wind, wave, marine, hydro, biomass and solar – not gas”
The committee decided the scheme did not comply with Green Belt policy and there were no exceptional circumstances to allow industrial development in the Green Belt.