On the Proposed Anaerobic Digestion Facility at Anwick
Parish Council Statement on the Proposed Anaerobic Digestion Facility at Anwick
Anwick Parish Council has submitted a detailed, evidence-led and legally grounded response to the revised Environmental Statement for the proposed anaerobic digestion facility at Anwick. This is not a general expression of opposition and it is not based on local preference. It is a structured rebuttal identifying fundamental defects in the application and serious public law risks arising from the proposal in its current form.
The Parish Council’s concerns go far beyond visual impact or traffic. They relate to the true scale and operational capacity of the proposed plant, the lack of transparency in the applicant’s process design, and the failure to define a worst-case development envelope as required by environmental law. Independent technical review and comparator analysis demonstrate that the infrastructure proposed at Anwick is physically capable of materially greater throughput than is presented for planning purposes, and that key information required to understand the real environmental and health impacts of the scheme has not been provided.
The Council is also deeply concerned by the absence of proper regulatory scrutiny. The Environment Agency has confirmed that it has not assessed core issues including odour, cumulative impacts, hazardous substances risk or regulatory feasibility at the planning stage. There is no evidence of consultation with the Food Standards Agency or APHA, despite the proposal involving animal by-products and being located immediately adjacent to a regulated poultry slaughterhouse. The interaction between existing odour problems, biosecurity risks, wildlife presence, the water environment and the nearby residential community has not been properly assessed. These are not matters that can be safely deferred to later permitting stages.
Importantly, the evidence assembled by the Parish Council demonstrates that this is not simply a flawed scheme on an otherwise suitable site. It is a case where the site itself is fundamentally unsuitable in principle for large-scale industrial anaerobic digestion development. The location is immediately adjacent to housing, already environmentally burdened, constrained by flood risk and highway limitations, and inferior to reasonable alternative sites. These are structural constraints which cannot be resolved by better reporting, mitigation or conditions.
Anwick Parish Council is not opposed to renewable energy or anaerobic digestion in principle. However, the Council does not believe that this proposal, in this location, and on the evidence provided, is safe, appropriate or capable of lawful determination. The Parish Council’s position is that the application should be refused, and that any future proposal for this form of development at Anwick would face the same fundamental site-based constraints.
The Council will continue to press for full transparency, proper environmental assessment, regulatory accountability and the protection of residents’ health, wellbeing and environment.