Furniture manufacturer Mark Wilkinson, whose factory is in Bromham, near Devizes, wants to move his operation into a disused quarry alongside the gasification plant and an unspecified number of 'ec;o' houses and workspaces.
The plant would be supplied with technology by Compact Power, which said it had developed technology for high temperature oxidation which could handle up to 30,000 tonnes of waste a year at Bromham.
It said this would provide 2MWe of power per year and also produce an inert ash for use in construction products.
”We are delighted to have been selected to play such a key role in this pioneering project.“
– John Acton, Compact Power CEO
Mr Wilkinson, who won Envolve's sustainable business award last year, is the largest local employer and said a proportion of the plant's eventual profits would be earmarked for local improvements.
Backers of the plant intend it should be co-owned by Mr Wilkinson, Compact Power and the local authority.
John Acton, chief executive officer of Compact Power, said: “We are delighted to have been selected to play such a key role in this pioneering project which will undoubtedly set a precedent for other communities worldwide seeking to develop sustainable strategies.”
A business plan is being developed, which would require some 10m to be raised from waste disposal fees, and from the eco-homes and workspaces. The project is not seeking money from councils.
But, a spokesman for Kennet Council, the local planning authority, said: “We have looked at it and we are interested in sustainable development, but such a scheme does not fit happily into planning policy.
“Our new local plan has just come out with all the housing and industrial development sites on it, which do not include this one.
” It is a greenfield site and would contravene planning policy.“
– Spokesman for Kennet council “A large proposal like this coming out of the blue is difficult to reconcile with the local plan. It is a greenfield site and would contravene planning policy.”
Kennet predicted that Mr Wilkinson and Compact Power would have “an uphill struggle”.
“First they have to sort it out with the county council as the waste authority and then with the regional assembly for housing allocations,” he said. “Only after that would Kennet be in a position to talk to them about it.”
Echoing the district council's reservations, Wiltshire county council's waste local plan team leader Andy Conn said that although the council is keen to support one of the major employers in the area, the housing and energy-from-waste elements of the furniture manufacturer's plans fell outside the council's planning policy.
“A new factory for a very important local employer is something we would really support in principal,” he said, “But energy-from-waste we feel would raise all sorts of issues and currently wouldn't be supported by the draft waste local plan.”
One of the biggest issues for the county council for the project is that waste generated by the furniture factory would not be enough to fuel the Compact Power plant, so waste would have to be imported from other sources.
”Energy-from-waste we feel would raise all sorts of issues and currently wouldn't be supported by the draft waste local plan. “
– Andy Conn, waste local plan team leader Wiltshire council Mr Conn said: “Waste from the factory; dealing with it on site may be the best practicable environmental option but that is actually is quite a small amount of waste which wouldn't be enough to run the energy-from-waste plant. So it would involve bringing waste from somewhere else and there is no particular advantage in bringing it to Bromham and at this stage we don't know where these stocks would be coming from.”
Wood waste from the factory is currently being recycled into chipboard and Mark Wilkinson also owns farm land where the waste could be composted. Both these processes are more desirable options to deal with the factory's waste and have the council's support, said Mr Conn.
Mr Conn added that the companies involved could face a number of issues with gaining planning permission for a facility in the old quarry, especially since it is sited in a Special Landscape Area, with concerns about the water table and a potential disturbance of badgers, a protected species.
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