Firm reveals plans for gas storage site near beauty spot in borough
£5m site would be able to hold 1,400 tonnes of liquid propane gas
PLANS are being drawn up for a new storage site that could hold up to 1,400 tonnes of liquid propane gas (LPG) and 120 tonnes of liquid natural gas - a mile from one of the county’s top beauty spots.
Flogas wants to build the new facility at the Merrylees Industrial Estate, close to Thornton Reservoir in the heart of the west Leicestershire countryside.
The former colliery site is already home to a big brick works, vehicle mechanics, food manufacturers and others.
An application for Hazardous Substances Consent has been sent to Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council and passed on to the Health and Safety Executive for consideration.
Some residents have raised concerns about the impact of a big gas storage facility and the potential for more lorries coming through the area.
The business said it would lead to 44 new jobs from managerial roles to supervisors, drivers and plant operatives.
It said more than £5 million will be spent on construction while the annual operating costs will be around £2 million - “much of which will be spent with local shops and suppliers”.
Business rates are estimated at £78,500 a year.
Flogas - which is headquartered in Syston and supplies LPG to homes and companies across the UK - said it was likely the site would only be half full at any one time.
The business has owned the site since 1984 and had capacity to store about 500 tonnes of gas there until 2007 when it started using sites in Syston and Birmingham.
It is currently vacant. Existing buildings would be knocked down and replaced by a single-storey office and cylinder-filling building.
The main activity at the site will be:
Bulk unloading of LPG into the storage tanks by road tanker
Bulk loading from the storage tanks to smaller road tankers to distribute to the surrounding areas
Bringing in and refilling empty LPG cylinders
Outbound transport of full LPG cylinders by truck to other Flogas sites and customers
Parking for LPG and LNG tankers
Degassing facility The site will be in operation 24 hours per day.
Flogas said there would be 25 HGVs going into the the site and 25 leaving it each day, which would be routed to the west and north on the B585 around Bagworth and onto the A511 at Bardon Hill.
Flogas said: “Safety is of the utmost importance to, and a core value of, Flogas, who understand that local residents will be keen to find out about the safety implications of the proposals.
“The scheme has been designed with safety in mind for both staff and those who live and work in the surrounding area.
“We have already undertaken modelling on the likelihood of incidents that extend beyond the boundaries of the site.
“This modelling has shown that the likelihood of an event that sees a risk to people outside the site is 1 in 10,000 years – and would only affect those within 10m of the eastern and western boundaries of the site.
“We are not aware of any serious incidents that took place while we operated from the site between 1984 and 2007.
“The company understands that local residents will be keen to find out about the on-site safety measures and the high levels of safety that Flogas works to across the country.
“The proposals include mounding the storage tanks in special structures, which minimises risk and provides enhanced protection.”
Flogas held a public exhibition last week at Thornton Community Centre, attended by more than 50 local residents, businesses and community representatives who discussed the safety, highways and employment aspects of the proposals.
Howard Jonas, head of health and safety at Flogas Britain said: “We were delighted to meet so many members of the local community to discuss our proposals for Merrylees and answer their questions.
“Their feedback was encouraging and will be used to inform our proposals before making a planning application.
“We would like to encourage those who could not attend the exhibition to view our proposals on the project website, speak to our team via our Information Line, and send in their comments prior to the feedback deadline.”
Scott Parsons lives in Desford, about two miles away as the crow flies, and said he had issues with the plans.
He said: “There would be concerns about lorries, but it’s been there before so it might be the right place for it.
“There’s a problem with lorries coming through Desford at the moment and getting stuck in the narrow centre so I hope this doesn’t make the problem worse.
“Also, I wonder if it would affect house prices when people do searches before buying somewhere in the area.”
Flogas expects to have a planning application in this month or next, with a council decision anticipated later in the autumn.
If planning approval is granted construction will start later in the year and the site would start operating next year.