AFTER three years of intensely heated debate, opponents of a scheme to create a giant biomass power plant in Winkleigh were celebrating the scheme?s refusal on Tuesday. Torridge District Council?s plans committee voted by eleven to three to refuse the £43-million scheme, proposed for Winkleigh airfield by developers Peninsula Power. The decision was greeted by a massive cheer from the audience who packed Winkleigh Sports Hall for the meeting. David Lausen, one of the leaders of opposition to the project said he was ?massively relieved? at the result. Mr Lausen said the threat of the scheme had been hanging over local residents for almost three years to the day, and he hoped this would be the end of the story. But following the meeting Peninsula Power announced its intention to appeal against the decision. Peter Moralee, technical director for Peninsula Power said the company was ?disappointed but not down-hearted? by the decision. The South West of England Regional Development Agency, which spoke in favour of the application in a briefing prior to the meeting, was also disappointed with the decision. Nick Lewis, executive director of resources at SWRDA said: ?We believe the project had the potential to benefit the economy of Winkleigh and the wider region. Although this is a setback to the development of biomass in South West England, we have learned a great deal through our involvement in the project to date which we can apply to future biomass projects in the region.? The RDA has spent almost £600,000 on the Winkleigh biomass project, the majority of which, £412,000, was used to acquire the site. Most of the remainder has been used to fund feasibility studies as well as legal and administrative fees. Mr Lewis said: ?If the project did not proceed then the RDA would discuss alternative proposals with the local community and the planning authority through the Market and Coastal Towns Initiative.? He stressed that whatever the land was used for the RDA would ensure it would contribute towards the economy of Winkleigh and the surrounding area. Peninsula Power said ?insufficient consideration and appraisal had been given to wider issues especially national, regional and local policies,? in the officers? report compiled by Torridge District Council. The company also highlighted a recent survey of the region carried out by RegenSW, which had stated: ?The South West still has a very long way to go in achieving its 2010 renewable energy target. The rate of construction of projects must increase dramatically if the region is to meet its targets.? The company said that through the development of its far-sighted project, it had always gone much further than the local plan required and had made numerous changes in response to public consultation over a long period. Torridge Council refused the applications on the grounds that the scale of the development was such that it was likely that biomass fuel for the plant would have to be supplied from a very wide area across the South West, resulting in increased traffic and the potential undermining of other small-scale biomass schemes. Mr Lausen said: ?I think we have got to have small, local biomass schemes. The Royal Commission in 2004 said the maximum distance you can have for transporting miscanthus crops is 20km or 12.5 miles, outside of that distance it would not make environmental or economic sense.? The principle of biomass involves using the energy crop miscanthus and other biomass materials, including cellulosic fibres to generate renewable energy. Cllr David Weeks, from the West Devon ward of Exbourne, spoke as one of the opponents of the scheme in the morning briefing. He told councillors: ?The plant would have a significant impact on those living and working in the surrounding area. It would have a detrimental visual impact on this beautiful rural area.?
