Objectors 'will not go quietly' in fight over Shropshire digester scheme
Residents opposed to controversial proposals to site an anaerobic digester just 200 yards from homes near Ludlow say they "do not intend to submit quietly", despite planners recommending it should go ahead.
Objectors say the machine, which would use 3,000 tonnes of chicken manure a year, would lead to unbearable smells and more lorries using narrow roads in Woofferton.
Shropshire Council has received objections from Richards Castle Parish Council and 30 individual letters. But officers are recommending approval, subject to conditions.
The applicant, Ludlow Bioenergy Ltd, says the biodigester could potentially provide heat and electricity for homes in the village and beyond. But the proposal has attracted a raft of objections which also include Woofferton Residential Care Home, The Salwey Arms pub and Brimfield and Little Hereford Council.
Hugo Lywood, 43, owner of The Salwey Arms, said the digester would be 300 yards from the pub, which he finished renovating and reopened only this August, after the pub had stood empty for years.
The smell and increased traffic would be off-putting to guests and diners, he said.
Stephen Pott, a resident of Woofferton, said planners had recommended approval despite "significant" opposition from local people, businesses and parish councils.
He added: "Unbelievably, the highways department has raised no objection to the hundreds of additional and rerouted large tractor/trailer movements that this application will bring across the potentially dangerous A49/Park Lane road junction and the hazardous A49 Woofferton crossroads. The noise and bad smells that this site will impose on the residents of Woofferton, Wyson and other surrounding villages have been deemed to be 'acceptable' by the planners.
"l understand that most of those who will benefit directly from this proposal, farmers, engineers and financiers, do not live in, or even near, Woofferton. Clearly, its not wanted in their backyard.
"Rural Woofferton has been blighted over recent years by inappropriate dirty, noisy industrial development being permitted by our local authority. It seems we are likely to be steam-rollered into submission once again, but we do not intend to submit quietly."
A final decision will be made at planning committee meeting on Tuesday from 2pm at Shirehall in Shrewsbury. Members of the public are welcome to attend.
