Ecotricity proposes much smaller Green Gasmill beside M5 near Fiddington
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Ecotricity has submitted a planning application for a much smaller green gasmill on land between Fiddington and the M5 motorway in Gloucestershire – with the size of the development and traffic movements both reduced by 40%.
Tewkesbury Borough Council have validated the revised proposal, which will still make green gas from grass harvested in the local area and power almost 3,500 homes every year, while injecting around £2 million annually into the local economy, helping to improve land quality and creating wildlife habitats.
Despite the original green gas application receiving a recommendation for approval from Tewkesbury Borough Council’s planning experts and no objections from statutory bodies such as Gloucestershire Highways and the Environment Agency, local councillors rejected the proposal on traffic and landscape grounds.
Ecotricity have listened to these concerns raised by local residents, as well as by council members, and are now submitting a revised scheme with reduced landscape size and traffic movements.
The new green gasmill proposes:
reducing the development size from 7.05 hectares to 4.5 hectares
reducing the anaerobic digester from 7 domes to 4, while the maximum height of the infrastructure is reduced from 13.5m to 12m
reducing traffic movements to and from the site by 41%
improving the Odessa Junction (A38/Tredington Road), in addition to a detailed local highway widening programme on Tredington Road and Fiddington Road
reducing visual impact by moving the buildings to the south and west of the site to increase the separation distance from nearest residents and increasing tree planting on the western boundary.
Using a process called anaerobic digestion, Ecotricity will make Green Gas from grass harvested from farms surrounding the proposed green gasmill. This will be injected straight into the National Grid, while a natural organic fertiliser by-product will go back onto farmland to grow species-rich grasses, cutting the need for artificial fertilisers.
Dale Vince, Ecotricity founder, said: “We’ve taken into account the concerns of the local community and council members and reduced the size of our proposed green gasmill.
“This in turn reduces the traffic movements, which along with road improvements and a ban on peak-time deliveries, will ensure any traffic impact will be much reduced.”
There will be up to 30 jobs created to run the green gasmill and supply the species-rich grass from local farms, while around £2 million annually will be pumped into the local economy.
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