The monthly meeting of Bridgend Council’s planning committee took place earlier this week. You can watch the first part here (link) and the second part here (link).
The main proposal on the agenda was an application seeking to increase the processing capacity at the food waste-to-energy anaerobic digestion plant at Stormy Down (pdf).
Anaerobic digestion uses the gas produced by bacteria breaking down the food waste to generate electricity and is considered a type of renewable energy.
The facility – which opened in 2015 – is currently run by Severn Trent Green Power. It processes household food waste from Bridgend and at least seven other Welsh local authorities.
As of 2019, the plant processed just under 60,000 metric tons of food waste a year, which exceeds the 48,500-ton limit in the original planning permission. The application proposes to increase this limit to 95,000 tons a year.
Merthyr Mawr Community Council and local residents objected to the application. They argued that BCBC had failed to police the original planning conditions and the company has broken promises on the routing of HGVs several times.
The application was approved unanimously subject to the company entering into a new routing agreement for HGVs. Other conditions include the proper monitoring and recording of complaints, providing a widened access/exit and restrictions on noise.
Planning officers have also advised the company that HGVs should only access the site via Heol-y-Splott (so they don’t travel past the Stormy Down hamlet).
Llangeinor factory extension also approved
The other major planning application up for discussion was an extension to the Irvin GQ factory in Llangeinor (pdf). The factory produces parachutes for military and civilian uses and the proposed extension would increase the size of the testing facility.
Objections were received from local residents who believe the 13-metre height of the extension would be an eyesore. There were objections based on noise levels from the factory, while it was argued that the Llangeinor area is inappropriate for industry – although the factory has been there since the 1970s.
A planning officer said properties would not be overlooked by the extension. Also, the site was separated from surrounding buildings by mature trees which help dampen noise.
There was a brief debate over how close residential properties were to the factory, though the extension would be on the northern side and around 100m away from the nearest houses in any direction.
Councillors unanimously approved the application subject to conditions, which included matching the building materials used on the rest of the factory.
