Power plant reasons criticised
A scheme to build a £5 million biomass power plant in a Shropshire town has been blasted by residents who claim the developer's justification for the proposal is wrong.
Karen Bavastock, secretary of the Bishop's Castle Group, said: "The developers have said that the primary reason for building the power plant was to help sustain the current weak network supply and to help stabilise the voltage in Bishop's Castle.
"This is simply not the case. The committee wrote to E-ON Central Networks, the company responsible for our power supplies, to ascertain the true situation. The quality of supply manager of E-ON Central Networks replied to us stating that: 'References to a weak and poor supply are inaccurate'."
Group chairman Steve Middleton said: "If the developers have promoted so publicly that one of the primary reasons for building this plant is because there is a critical power need, yet the electricity company is saying there is no such need, then what is their real reason?"
Chris Day, of CJ Day Associates, acting as agents for the development, said there had been some confusion.
He said: "Regarding the power supply, Central Networks has a legal obligation to provide stable power to all residential properties in Bishop's Castle. I am not suggesting that they are not providing stable power, but our power plant is concerned with embedded generation, developed in line with Government policy that wishes to improve security of supply from local fuel sources."
Another public meeting will be held on Tuesday from 5pm in the Church Barn in Bishop's Castle.
Mr Day said that the schedule for the Bishop's Castle plant had now been put back by a week and a planning application would be submitted on May 23.