An extraordinary meeting of Bridgend Council’s planning committee will be held at a future date to decide the application for a hydrogen energy facility and solar farm at Brynmenyn and Bryncethin.
A report, discussed by the committee yesterday (pdf), said that “the scale of the development and the level of public objection would justify Members considering the proposal at a Special Meeting of the Development Control Committee in line with the adopted Code of Practice.”
A date for the meeting hasn’t yet been set. The provisional agenda would see committee members make separate site visits to the proposed hydrogen facility and solar farm in the morning, with the committee meeting to decide the application held in the afternoon.
Any people wanting to speak at the meeting will also be granted additional time to do so – 10 minutes each, up from the usual 5 minutes.
The Hybont scheme – being developed by the Japanese conglomerate, Marubeni – will provide a fuelling station for buses and council vehicles. It’ll also be used to provide heating to Coleg y Dderwen, Brynmenyn Primary School and Ynysawdre Sports Centre.
In the last few weeks, a hydrogen fuel cell bus has been used on local routes to demonstrate the practical applications of the technology.
Meanwhile, opponents to the project staged a protest outside the Civic Offices in June, with safety, over-development and traffic being amongst the concerns.
