Large waste plant near Broughton Astley gets green light in spite of concerns

A number of concerns were raised about the plan, with one resident fearing the scheme would “violate the landscape”.

The anaerobic digestion plant at Sutton Lodge Farm was approved by Leicestershire County Council in 2010, but only the site access has been completed in the years since. Anaerobic digestion is a green energy process which ferments raw materials, or feedstock, in a large, airtight tank to create biomethane and CO2.

Applicant Sutton Lodge Biogas Limited sought a number of changes to the 2010 permission, including altering permitted export times from half the year to all year round. These export will now also be carried solely by heavy good vehicles (HGV) rather than some of the product being transported by the originally planned pipeline. Meanwhile new proposals for the main source of the plant’s feed to shift from food waste to crops and agricultural waste, such as manure, sparked concern at last week’s council meeting.

One local resident branded the scheme a “corruption of a magnificent technology”, adding it was originally intended to stop food waste going to the landfill but will no longer fulfil this, with crops grown specifically to feed the plant instead.

The landowner also faced questions from elected members over his intentions going forward, with Gartree councillor Phil King asking, if approval were to be given, when it would be implemented and whether it would “take another 15 years”. The landowner told the committee the delay was a result of not being able to secure either funding or an operator for the plan, adding they were “ready to move”.

In response to concerns over growing crops for use at the site, he added there would be a “balance and a mix” of products feeding the plant, including manure from cows and chickens and waste straw from local farms. The plant would also have the capacity to take food waste and there was an “open mind” towards incorporating that, he said.

The landowner added: “My family have lived and farmed in the local area since the 1950s, and at Sutton Lodge for over 30 years. I am doing all I can to ensure its future for the next generation of our family […]

“The facility will allow me to have a long-term, viable, economic outlet for my agricultural waste such as slurry from my cattle, and I’ll also be able to sell crops as feedstock to the facility. [This] will provide me with a stable and continuous income into the farm.”

Local farmers will also be able to benefit in a similar way, the landowner continued. Any waste from the digester can then be spread back onto local fields as fertiliser, he said.

Going into the meeting last Thursday (June 12), planning officers ruled the suggested changes to be acceptable and recommended they be approved. Members of the authority’s development control committee approved the variations to the scheme with 10 votes in favour and two against.