Biomass boiler set for green light after NRW checks

PLANS for a 500kw biomass boiler on a South Wales industrial estate look set for approval.

The application from Rapidgrid Ltd proposes to build a new building to house the biomass boiler, woodchip storage area and an office extension on Sixteenth Avenue on Hirwaun Industrial Estate.

Planning officers at Rhondda Cynon Taf council have recommended the plans for approval with the planning committee set to discuss the application on Thursday.

The application was first reported to the committee on December 17, 2020, where it was resolved to defer the application to enable officers to receive final comments from Natural Resources Wales (NRW) and await the outcome of a direction from Welsh Government.

Since that meeting, NRW has viewed the boiler specification submitted by the applicant and confirmed it has no objections to the proposal.

The Welsh Government have also issued a decision confirming the application will not be called in for determination by ministers and the direction issued is cancelled so it can now be determined by the council.

There was one letter of objection to the application which raised concern about the scale of the proposed building and the biomass boiler.

It also queried how the proposal fits in with the Wales Well Being of Future Generations Act (2015).

But officers said that the proposal is considered to be acceptableand that the council’s public health and protection division have not raised any objection.