DEVELOPMENT CONTROL AND REGULATIONS COMMITTEE 02 October 2012 A Report by the Assistant Director Planning and Sustainability _____________________________________________________________________________ Reference No: EN010044 Applicant: Centrica RPS Limited, Maidenhead Road, Windsor, Berkshire, SL4 5GB District: Barrow Borough Council ______________________________________________________________________ Proposal: To consider a joint Cumbria County Council/Barrow Borough Council Local Impact Report relating to an application for a Development Consent Order (DCO) to enable the applicant to construct and operate a new Biomass electricity generating station with a nominal capacity of 90MW, together with a number of associated developments Location: Land at Roosecote, Barrow-in-Furness ______________________________________________________________________ 1.0 RECOMMENDATION 1.1 To approve the joint Cumbria County Council/Barrow Borough Council prepared Local Impact Report, as set out in Annex A, and to refer it to Cabinet and for Cabinet to make representation about whether the Council supports the proposal or not, taking account the Local Impact Report agreed by DC&R. 2.0 BACKGROUND 2.1 On the 3 rd July 2012, Centrica RPS Limited submitted an application for a Development Consent Order (DCO) to the National Infrastructure Directorate (Planning Inspectorate) to build and operate a 90MW (gross)/80MW (Net) biomass electricity generating power station on land at Roosecote, Barrow-in-Furness. 2.2 As the biomass facility is an on-shore electricity generating station having a capacity of more than 50MW, it is deemed a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) within the definition contained in Sections 14 & 15 of the Planning Act 2008, as amended. The application for the DCO will therefore be determined by the Secretary of State, via the National Infrastructure Directorate (Planning Inspectorate). 2.3 Cumbria County Council is consequently a key statutory consultee on this development alongside Barrow Borough Council. Other adjoining Local Authorities such as South Lakeland District Council and Copeland Borough Council are also involved in the consultation process. It is intended that a copy of the joint Cumbria County Council/Barrow Borough Council Local Impact Report will be made available to South Lakeland District Council to assist the preparation of their Local Impact Report. At this stage, South Lakeland District Council has supported the joint approach. 2.4 Within 14 days of the submission, statutory consultees were required to respond to the National Infrastructure Directorate, to give their views on the adequacy of the pre-application consultation process encapsulated in the applicant’s Statement of Community Consultation (SoCC). Cumbria County Council and Barrow Borough Council submitted a joint Officer response that raised serious concerns about aspects of their approach to community consultation, including insufficient involvement of the County Council’s Local Area Manager and support Team, but which did not go as far as to object and was based on its understanding of the position at the time,. 2.5 Following this, on the 31 st July 2012 the National Infrastructure Directorate (NID) confirmed that they had accepted the application, which now takes the application currently into what is known as the Pre-Examination stage, which is expected to last 2-3 months. The acceptance of the application also triggers a series of immediate deadlines for statutory consultees, such as Cumbria County Council and Barrow Borough Council, to respond to the application prior to the Examination stage, which is expected could last up to 6 months thereafter.. 2.6 A key input for statutory consultees as part of the Examination stage process is that Cumbria County Council and Barrow Borough Council will be formally invited by the Secretary of State to give their views on the proposal, and to prepare and submit a Local Impact Report setting out what they consider to be the effects of the development upon the local area. The Local Impact Report will be required to be submitted following a formal Pre-Examination meeting to be held by the National Infrastructure Directorate probably sometime in early October 2012, with the submission of the Local Impact Report likely due in early/mid-November 2012. 2.7 Throughout the preliminary stages, Cumbria County Council and Barrow Borough Council have been working jointly to submit Officer responses to consultations by both Centrica RPS Ltd and the Planning Inspectorate on Environmental Scoping, the applicant’s Statement of Community Consultation (SoCC), and the applicant’s Preliminary Environmental Information (PEI). This process has been a good example of collaboration between the Authorities, resulting in the preparation of the attached joint Barrow Borough Council/Cumbria County Council Local Impact Report in which we share the same conclusion. 2.8 However, a Planning Performance Agreement (PPA) between the joint Authorities and Centrica RPS Ltd, which is intended to assist the Authorities in the preparation of all the documentation and assessments as part of the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project process, has yet to be signed at the time of drafting the Local Impact Report (21/09/12). Due to the very tight timescales involved in NSIPs, it has meant that limited independent studies have had to be commissioned at financial risk to both Authorities as part of the Local Impact Report process. 2.9 Based on the current County Council Constitution, the Development Control & Regulation Committee (DC&R) is expected to consider and approve the draft Local Impact Report as set out in Annex 1, and refer it to Cabinet and it is for Cabinet to make representations about whether the Council supports the proposal or not, taking account of the Local Impact Report agreed by DC&R at their meeting on the 11 October 2012. The views of Barrow Local Committee on the proposed development have also fed into both the Local Impact Report and the Cabinet report. Barrow Borough Council will endorse the joint Local Impact report separately. 3.0 THE PROPOSAL Site location and surrounding area 3.1 The new Biomass electricity generating power station would be located on the site of the existing Roosecote gas-fired power station approximately 600m to the south east of Barrow-in-Furness. Various additional parcels of land nearby will be required to accommodate the development and its associated infrastructure such as the rail link from the power station to connect with the existing railway serving Ramsden Dock. The existing power station site was previously occupied by a coal-fired power station in 1954, and the current gas-fired power station on the site started commercial operation in November 1991. Linked to the existing power station is the cooling pump house, which is located adjacent to Cavendish Dock. 3.2 To the immediate north-west of the power station is the United Utilities Waste Water Treatment Plant. To the south are Centrica’s Morecambe Bay Gas Terminals. The nearest residential properties are at Dowie Close some 400m to the north of the power station site. New House Farm is some 500m to the north east of the site. There are some allotment gardens at Roose Farm some 600m to the north of the site, and Barrow-in-Furness Town Centre is some 2.3km north west of the power station site. 3.3 There are some areas of special interest, including the Morecambe Bay Special Area of Conservation (SAC), Special Protection Area (SPA) and Ramsar Site, and part of the South Walney and Piel Channel Flats Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). Cavendish Dock is part of the SPA and Ramsar site and part of the South Walney and Piel Channel Flats SSSI and part of the Cavendish Dock Wildlife Attraction. Salthouse Pool, between Cavendish Dock and the power station, is designated as a County Wildlife Site and also part of the Cavendish Dock Wildlife Attraction. The Duddon Estuary SPA and Ramsar Site (Duddon Estuary SSSI) are beyond Barrow-in-Furness to the north-west. 3.4 A public right of way (PROW) runs north-south along a former railway along the north western boundary of the power station, and is part of the Cumbria Coastal Way. A footpath/cycleway around the eastern edge of Cavendish Dock. There is a further PROW runs 300m north of the power station site. The proposed development 3.5 The main new structures proposed in the development comprise the following: a new boiler house 70m high; a new stack 90m high; a new fuel storage shed some 29m high and up to 120m x 55m in plan; four new fuel storage silos for wood pellets each some 25m in diameter and some 35m tall; biomass screening building; road delivery unloading facility; rail unloading facility; a new railway line connecting the existing rail infrastructure; and conveyors to transport fuel within the power station. 3.6 Approximately 430,000 to 600,000 tonnes of biomass fuel (comprising a mix of virgin wood chip and pellets, with a proportion of recycled/waste wood chips) would be burnt per annum to generate electricity at the facility. A limit of 630,000 tonnes of fuel has been included in the draft DCO. The applicant states that other types of fuel could change in the future, subject to Local Authority agreement. 3.7 The applicant claims that the Flue Gas Treatment (FGT) would clean the flue gases before release into the atmosphere, and would comprise NOx abatement, acid gas neutralisation, heavy metals absorption and particulate filtration components. Continuous on-line emissions monitoring equipment would monitor the performance of the Gas Flue Treatment system and warn of trending toward the emission limits. This reporting mechanism will be agreed with the Environment Agency. 3.8 The fuel would be delivered to the power station either by sea to the Port of Barrow (and then by train to the power station), or alternatively from another UK port and then by train via the rail network.