Agenda Item No: 7a DEVELOPMENT CONTROL COMMITTEE 27th July 2009 REPORT BY CHIEF PLANNING OFFICER Planning application to establish an anaerobic digestion plant Subject: with associated hard surfacing and landscaping, and construction works including a waste reception / handling building, two digester tanks, two pre-storage tanks, a feedstock buffer tank and two digestate storage tanks Applicant: Fernbrook Bio Limited Subject to the satisfactory conclusion of consultations with the Highways Agency, such that the Agency states that it does not Recommendations: object, the application be approved subject to the conditions outlined in Appendix A and any additional conditions required by the Highways Agency. 1. Purpose of Report 1.1 The purpose of this report is to provide the Committee with professional planning advice on any issues, Development Plan Policies and other material considerations relevant to the determination of a planning application. 2. Relevant Corporate Outcome A cleaner, greener and more prosperous county 3. Background and site description 3.1 There is no relevant planning history associated with the proposed site. 3.2 The Rothwell Lodge site represents greenfield development in a rural area and located within the boundaries of Kettering Borough Council and Rothwell Town Council. 3.3 The site occupies approximately 2.28 hectares immediately west of the Rothwell Lodge Farm buildings, and south of the A14 trunk road at the Rothwell Lodge Farm minor junction (number 5) between junction 7 (A43) and 4 (Rothwell). 3.4 The site is positioned approximately 650m south of Rothwell and 2.5km west of Kettering. Thorpe Malsor is located approximately 1.3km to the south east of the site. 3.5 The site occupies a single field and is currently in pastoral farmland use (observed as being grazed by sheep during site visits). Rothwell Lodge Farm to the east of the site consists of a farmhouse that is the closest residential property, and there are several large barns to the south and east of the farmhouse. These are of modern construction, with corrugated metal roofs and walls. 3.6 Locally, the nearest residential properties and settlements in relation to the proposed facility are: Location / Description Direction Approximate from site distance Rothwell Lodge Farm east 200m Cottages (two derelict cottages immediately adjacent to north 250m the A14 carriageway) vehicle filling station (BP) and restaurant (MacDonald‟s) north west 250m Columbus Crescent, Rothwell north-west 700m Glendon Hill Farm and Woodfield Farm north east 1.1km Orton Lodge south west 1.1 km Loddington village south 1.6km Reservoir Cottage south east 900m Thorpe Malsor, Village south east 1.3km 3.7 The proposed development is located within an area previously subject to opencast quarrying in the early 1900‟s for the extraction of ironstone. Since then the land was restored and returned to agriculture. The JPP Consulting Report on ground Pollution Prevention and Control (March 2009) states that at least part of the site is likely to have been in-filled within overburden following mineral extraction, however the report identifies that there are possible foundation options for the proposed development. 4. Proposal 4.1 For the proposed site plan and landscape proposals respectively please refer to APPENDIX B “Proposed Site Plan – DRW No. FB/BR/09/001 Rev H” and APPENDIX C ”Landscape Proposals DRW No. B08046.06A”. Please note on Appendix B that reference to Bigestate Storage Tanks should read Digestate. 4.2 Proposal summary: Establishment of an anaerobic digestion (AD) facility with a 30,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) maximum capacity of organic waste throughput a variety of organic wastes including municipal, commercial and industrial wastes in liquid (slurries, food manufacturing washings); semi-fluid (e.g. abattoir gut content) and partly solid (local authority food waste and packaged supermarket waste) 1MW renewable energy production, equivalent to approx. 1,500-2,000 homes power usage A reception building with a height of 9.7m to ridge level (868m2 footprint area) Two digester tanks each 22.5m diameter and 6.28m high Two pre-storage tanks 6.98m diameter and 5.03m high A feedstock buffer / storage tank 5.43m diameter and 3.78m high Two digestate storage tanks 31.83m diameter and 5m high Gas flare 4.75m tall Site access off the Rothwell Lodge Farm A14 „clover leaf‟ junction with associated highway improvements Proposed average daily HGV movements 22 (11 in and 11 out) equivalent to 2.2 per hour (8am-6pm) 4.3 The figure below was included with a previous anaerobic digestion (AD) facility application and provides a simplified illustration of the AD process. Please note that in regards to the proposal: temperature figures are not available; heat output is due for use within the process; and the digestate is due to be separated into liquid bio-fertiliser and solids for use in compost production and as a soil conditioner. 4.4 The anaerobic digestion (AD) process is the biological treatment of biodegradable organic wastes that decomposes in the absence of oxygen. In this application food waste is digested and in this case supplemented with manure from the adjacent farm. The AD process allows microbial activity to break down the waste in a controlled environment resulting in digestate and biogas. The digestate is liquid consisting of a “fibre” and “liquor” mix, with the nutrient rich liquor to be used as bio-fertiliser and the fibre as a soil improver and compost production. Biogas is predominantly methane and also includes carbon dioxide and it is proposed to use the Biogas to produce electricity (due to the very high methane component). The process also includes pasteurisation to control pathogens (any disease producing agent especially a virus or bacterium or other microorganism). 4.5 The proposed AD facility will produce approximately 25,000 tonnes of digestate (bio- fertiliser) and approximately 5,000 tonnes of biogas (predominantly methane). The digestate is then to be applied to the surrounding agricultural holdings as a liquid fertiliser and soil improver and the biogas is to be used on-site to generate approximately 1 MW of renewable electricity to be fed into the national grid via underground lines. 4.6 The applicant states that the proposed 30,000 tpa capacity will be enough to produce electricity to power slightly under 2,000 homes per year and provide a carbon saving of just over 2,700 tonnes of CO2 per year. 4.7 The Millard Consulting Transport Statement supplied with the application assumes the feedstock to be delivered in 10-20 tonne HGV‟s and the proposed vehicle movements of 22 per day / 2.2 per hour, are based on an average load of 10 tonnes; the facility operating at the proposed 30,000 tpa full capacity; a 50 weeks year; and 60 HGV loads per 5½ day working week. 4.8 In order to accommodate the increased traffic and improved safety standards, highway improvements are proposed to: the existing access off the A14; and to the acceleration and decelaration lanes onto and off the A14; and enlarging the bend radius on the corner between the site entrance and the A14 (cloverleaf junction). 4.9 It is proposed to maintain negative pressure within the reception building and treat extracted air through a bio-filter, which will also treat displaced air from the pre-storage tanks. 4.10 Prior to storage of the digestate in the digestate storage tanks, it is proposed to remove solid material for use as a composting material. All the remaining digestate is then due to be stored in tanks until being applied on local farm land as a bio-fertiliser and soil conditioner. 5. Consultation 5.1 The following is a brief summary of the responses to the consultations undertaken. 5.2 Kettering Borough Council Kettering Borough Council responded with a committee resolution of no objection subject to there being consideration to planning conditions / section 106 legal agreement, to restrict the use as follows: The total amount processed per month / year Scheme for controlling and monitoring odours Scheme for noise control and monitoring No lighting on site other than in accordance with an approved scheme to be submitted and approved prior to first use Access and wheel cleaning facility / scheme Waste collection to be restricted to local area radius Building – design / finishes Landscaping details and landscape management scheme Restoration scheme in the event the use ceases submitted and approved prior to first use The conditions recommended in this report (see Appendix A) reflect consideration to the above bullet points – please see the relevant assessment headings for specific considerations. 5.3 Rothwell Town Council Responded with an objection to the application on the seven grounds stated below: 1. We have serious concerns over the safety of other road users on the A14 because of the number of vehicles going into and out of the proposed plant, especially as the slip roads were designed purely as an accommodation access for the farm. 2. We note the size of this plant would exempt it from certain environmental regulations, so we would be concerned that the operation would not be properly monitored. 3. The ground underneath seems to be quite unstable but we note that they have only checked to a depth of 3 metres so we feel more investigations are needed to ascertain its suitability. 4. When you are dealing with animal offal there is always an awful smell, even with sealed lorries and sealed units, and it is felt it would not be possible to prevent this. Therefore in certain weather conditions, the smell could have a seriously adverse impact on Rothwell and the nearby food outlet. (MacDonald‟s) 5. If the soakaway does fill up, leaking effluent could contaminate the water sources to the north and south, and especially in the event of an accident there is a serious risk of the waterways being polluted.