Chicken waste plant approved amid fears over smell

Plans for a biogas plant which will convert 120,000 tonnes of chicken waste and feedstock into renewable gas each year have been approved despite villagers' fears about "overwhelming" smells.

Stream BioEnergy UK Ltd has been given permission to build on land west of the Moy Park facility, south of the A153 in Anwick, near Sleaford.

Lincolnshire County Council planning officers recommended councillors refuse the proposals, saying there would be "substantial harm to heritage assets" in the area - and residents said their health was being ignored.

But the planning committee said the "public benefits" would outweigh the disadvantages and pointed to the extra jobs and benefits to the local economy.

The proposed plant includes two 40m (131ft) tall stacks and eight 25m (82ft) digester tanks, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The county council said 447 public objections had been made against the application, with many residents raising concerns.

Anwick resident Lorraine Curtis, 69, said that decision to approve the application was "disgusting".

She added: "The cumulative effect of the emissions from this facility will completely overwhelm the village.

"They talk about the heritage aspect of things, they talk about the landscape, they talk about the countryside.

"Not one of those people in there mentioned the health and wellbeing of the people that live in the village."

Committee chairman Thomas Sneath said despite strong public opposition for the facility, the committee felt the benefits to the area outweighed the risks.

He added: "The substantial weight that was given wasn't felt to be there for the heritage and therefore economical benefits did outweigh that marginally – and that's how we came to the conclusion of 'this would be a benefit to the area.'"

Local residents have also argued the plans would amount to the "industrialisation of the countryside" – with many raising concerns about the potential noise, increased traffic onto the A153 and unpleasant smells.

But the developer said it would provide renewable energy and denied it would lead to additional noise and smells, sayig it would be "a state-of-the-art development with a robust multi-stage odour control system".

It added that it would make improvements to the A153 and install a right-turning lane for the HGVs to access the site.

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