Residents plagued by years of ‘putrid’ stink and noise from a plant on the outskirts of Exeter that turns pig slurry into renewable energy can look forward to the slurry tank being covered by a lid designed to contain its smells.
Guy Henderson, local democracy reporter www.radioexe.co.uk
The anaerobic digester near Clyst St Mary (image courtesy: East Devon District Council)
But they will also have to put up with more traffic after East Devon District Council’s planning committee passed a fresh application from the company that runs the plant.
Gorst Energy originally received permission to put a lid on the giant anaerobic digestion tank in 2018, but hasn’t done so yet. The permission lapsed and the company applied again.
It also asked to more than double the amount of crops it can converted into energy for the National Grid.
The digester, which is next door to a pig farm, takes the farm’s slurry along with specially-grown crops to be broken down by bacteria in a large tank. The resulting gas creates energy.
Cllr Steve Gazzard (Lib Dem, Exmouth Withycombe Raleigh) ‘reluctantly’ proposed approval of the plans, adding: “I can’t think of a reason to refuse this.”
A previous application was turned down on appeal because of its effect on the residents of a nearby bungalow, but Gorst Energy has since bought the bungalow and uses it as part of the site.
The land is in open countryside opposite Westpoint, around 500 metres east of Clyst St Mary. Gorst Energy says its proposal will increase efficiency and create more low carbon energy for consumers. There were no objections from the Environment Agency, environmental health officers or highways authorities.
Speaking on behalf of Clyst St Mary residents, Gaeron Kayley said the plant was causing ‘misery’ and there had been ‘literally thousands’ of fruitless complaints to the Environment Agency over the years.
Cllr Mike Howe (Ind, Clyst Valley) said the dome lid should have been installed three years ago when permission was first given.
“They chose not to do it then because they don’t care about the residents being affected around them,” he said. “Local residents have had enough.
“I have been dealing with this site for over 10 years, and we have not been able to get any enforcement action on noise or smell. There is no control.”
Cllr Ian Barlow (Ind, Sidmouth Town) told the meeting: “This isn’t about being green, it’s about making money.” And Cllr John Heath (Ind, Beer and Branscombe) said the noise from the plant was ‘a form of psychological torture’ for its neighbours.
David Manley, representing Gorst Energy, pointed out that the planning inspector had already said the changes could be made without causing nuisance, and there were already stringent controls around its operations.
Darren Stockley of its parent company Ixora Energy said the changes would bring additional benefits and around £4 million a year to the local economy.
“We take very seriously any complaints about noise, odour and traffic,” he said. “We do all we can to engage with the community. We also try to act on any concerns raised to us.
“And the last 18 months have shown just how important reliable, renewable, local energy is rather than having to rely on Russia and Norway.”
Members agreed by a majority to approve the plans subject to a number of conditions.
East Devon Watch 
Disappointed does not adequately describe the feelings of those residents who, over a nine year period, have continuously strived to draw attention to the malpractices associated with the Enfield Farm Anaerobic Digester (AD) and adjoining pig farm in Clyst St Mary, by informing those regulatory, controlling authorities of the Environment Agency, EDDC Environmental Health and Planning officers, District and County Councillors, even local MPs (there is a 22-month-long pending Parliamentary Ombudsman investigation on the numerous detrimental issues!); BUT none of these government organisations have been able to either control the malpractices or significantly improve the day-to-day lives of the residents that they all purport to represent!
So . . . . dissatisfied, discouraged, disillusioned and disenchanted would be fairer descriptions of residents’ opinions!
Following last Tuesday’s EDDC Planning Meeting (that approved colossal increases in Enfield AD’s input tonnages of unspecified crops, grains, manures, chicken litter, slurries and unidentified waste, together with the corresponding increased output of the waste digestate produced) – the problems remain!
Residents’ daily lives have and continue to be blighted by putrid, stinking odours, flies, dust, loud noises (throughout entire nights keeping families awake), huge numbers of polluting tractors/trailers/bowsers/HGVs constantly travel along rural roads, throughout innumerable miles of congested highway networks, in the name of producing ‘green’ energy;
but based on Enfield AD’s own 2020 weighbridge tickets, the tractor/LGV movements amounted to 64,000 road miles or 2.5 times around the Earth, which would produce 89 tonnes of CO2!! (NB – these calculations did not take into account the CO2 produced by planting/ growing/harvesting crops specifically to feed this AD monster, uncontrolled double-handling of input/output within unlicensed storage facilities, onward transportation to and from unregistered storage sites et al (although planners were in possession of this data before the committee meeting) -but recommended approvals – so have sanctioned gargantuan increases in input and output – but ignored the guaranteed, detrimental issues almost certainly (on past experiences!) associated with such expansion!
Planning Councillors definitely sympathised with the residents’ plight – but with a recommendation of approval by planning officers advising that refusal would be challenged at Appeal by the Applicants – Councillors were advised that they must put forward adequate reasons for refusal that HM Planning Inspector would concur with – or the Council may lose the Appeal and be subject to huge costs!
However, residents and local planning experts had gone to great lengths to provide contraventions in planning policy that Councillors could implement for refusals – but unfortunately Councillors had either not read that advice or seemed unconfident to recommend refusal, without any guidance from planning officers (who obviously would not veer away from their supporting recommendation for the increases in tonnages) so planning officers offered negligible guidance to encourage Councillors towards a refusal decision!
Whether the future conditions that EDDC planners intend to impose on these Enfield AD increased tonnages applications will be worth the paper they are written on and will improve local residents’ lives remains to be seen?
To date the local authority has cited the lack of resources, time, finances, staff, enforcement etc as justification for the continuing Enfield malpractices not being controlled!
Hopefully all East Devon planners are confident they have made the correct planning decision, that adequate enforceable conditions will control the ongoing detrimental issues, enabling planners/regulators all to sleep peacefully at night (without their consciences being pricked!) – unfortunately, with the unacceptable noise that has (for years) been and continues to be emitting from the Enfield AD plant/farm – any nearby residents will not be afforded the same luxury of sleeping soundly in their beds!
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