Planning application for a 90 metre stack: Background for public consultation
Links to downloads below
Click link to view and download - Application Form
Click link to view and download - CIL Form
Click link to view and download - EWL-2020-Design and Access Statement
Click link to view and download - EWL ES addendum 2020 Non-technical Summary
Click link to view and download - Volume 1 EWL-ES addendum 2020
Click link to view and download - Volume 2 EWL ES-addendum 2020 Technical appendices
Click link to view and download - Volume 2 EWL ES-addendum 2020 Technical appendices
Click link to view and download - Photo Montage Illustrating the Evolution of the Planning Permissions and Forthcoming Application
Public consultation on proposals for a taller stack
Background
Enviroparks (Wales) Limited (EWL) has planning permission for a sustainable waste resource recovery and energy production park on its site at Fifth Avenue on Hirwaun Industrial Estate. The plant will process non-hazardous waste from homes and businesses, and is designed to recover as much recyclable materials and energy from the waste stream as possible.
Government policy supports the development of plants like this because they reduce the amount of waste tipped in landfill sites.
At the heart of the approved Enviroparks development will be an advanced gasification plant, housed in a building. In this plant, pre-processed waste will be heated to a high temperature – effectively cooked rather than burned. This releases a gas with a high energy content that will be used as a fuel to generate renewable electricity and heat.
The exhaust gases from the gasification plant will be filtered and vented through a stack on the site. Stack emissions will be monitored at all times and must comply with an Environmental Permit issued by Natural Resources Wales.
The current proposals
EWL has planning permission for a 45 metre high stack, located at the centre of the Fifth Avenue site. Computer modelling of the emissions from the stack shows that the exhaust gases will disperse better into the atmosphere if a taller stack was built. This will also benefit sensitive grassland wildlife sites close to the Enviroparks plant.
For these reasons EWL intends to apply for a 90 metre high stack in a slightly revised location on its site. The proposed stack will be a slender structure, under four metres in diameter, with a smooth steel finish and a graded colour scheme designed to reduce its visual prominence.
At the same time it is proposed to reposition the stack within the Enviroparks site to allow better access for maintenance.
The planning application
The planning application for the taller stack will be submitted to Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council (RCT). The application will be accompanied by an update or ‘addendum’ to the Environmental Statement for the existing approved proposals. The addendum will provide detailed technical information on the airy quality, ecology and landscape and visual effects of the proposals.
Drafts of the planning application can be viewed by clicking on the PDF files uploaded to this website. You might like to begin with the EWL ES addendum 2020, which provides an overview of the proposals and a summary of the predicted environmental effects. The Volume 3 EWL addendum 2020 landscape and visual figures and montages give an impression of what the stack would look like in local views.
If you would also like to view the planning applications and environmental information approved by RCT and the Brecon Beacons National Park Authority in the 2017 application (submitted in 2017, approved in 2019), please follow the link on the website Enviroparks Planning 2017.
Your views
To make representations about the proposals, please e-mail the applicant at admin@enviroparks.co.uk or write to the address below, marking the envelope PLANNING CONSULTATION.
Please submit your views before 12pm on Thursday 23rd July 2020,
Enviroparks (Wales) Limited
Tiverton Chambers
Lion Street
Abergavenny
NP7 5PN
What happens next?
EWL will consider the responses it receives from the public consultation and will if appropriate refine its proposals prior to submitting a planning application to RCT.
EWL will prepare and submit a Pre-Application Consultation Report alongside its planning application. This will describe the current consultant process, summarise the feedback and explain any changes made to the scheme or the assessment of its environmental effects in response to comments received.
Once the planning application has been submitted RCT will undertake a further public consultation on the proposals.
Thank you for taking the time to read this.