Peel pushes on with Barton appeal despite council criticism

PEEL Energy has said it will press ahead with its appeal to take its Barton Renewable Energy scheme to a public inquiry despite Trafford Council urging it to withdraw.

A motion was passed unanimously by councillors last week stating that the council “deplores the recent action of Peel Energy” in appealing the council’s decision to reject plans for the £70m biomass plant last December.

It added that this was “a unanimous decision of the planning committee on the grounds of the perceived threat to the health of Trafford residents”.

The £70m biomass plant would be fired by burning waste wood, and although the council’s own planning officers recommended it was approved, thousands of local residents wrote letters and signed petitions opposing it.

A motion by Labour councillors was also approved which said that the council will look at using powers under the Sustainable Communities Act “to petition the Government to change the planning system so that developers cannot appeal to central government to overturn a local planning decision”.

Davyhulme East Cllr Lisa Cooke said: “I believe that Peel Energy should rethink their plans on the basis of sheer public outcry, in the spirit of working with the local community and not against the people”.

However, Peel Energy’s project manager Jon England said that it planned to press ahead with its appeal. The company also recently received confirmation from the Environment Agency that it was “minded to grant” a permit for the 20MW plant, which would generate enough energy to power around 37,000 homes.

Mr England said: “There were no objections to the proposal on grounds of air quality or public health from any of the professional bodies who were consulted by Trafford Council.

“These included Trafford PCT, the Health Protection Agency and Trafford’s own air quality officers.

“Based on those facts, Peel Energy considers that an independent public inquiry is the best forum to examine the issues in an impartial and objective manner.”