Village anger as plan backed by ‘ remote’ council
Strong local feeling fails to sway vote
A YORKSHIRE authority seeking to persuade people that it is not too remote to understand and react to issues faced by all its residents has flown in the face of appeals from more than 1,100 villagers to stop an industrial scheme affecting their homes and health.
Following more than three hours of debate, North all er ton based North Yorkshire county councillors remained split over whether EP UK Investments should be allowed to extract and export about 23 million tonnes of ash from a 108- hectare manmade hill at Gale Common, nearly 60 miles from the county town.
It fell to planning committee chairman Coun Peter Sowray to use his casting vote to approve the scheme close to the villages of Womersley, Whitley, Great Heck and Cridling Stubbs, which aims to provide pulverised ash waste originally from Ferrybridge and Eggborough power stations
for use in the construction industry.
The decision came as the council is arguing it should become England’s largest unitary authority by area, dismissing claims that it would be unable to focus on local issues.
Residents lined up to explain why they regarded the scheme as “completely unacceptable”, highlighting concerns over the emissions the “constant stream of HGVs” would create and the headteacher of one primary school on the lorry route appeared to suggest parents may seek alternative schools as a result.
Concerns were raised about how council officers based in Northallerton would be able to ensure conditions imposed to mitigate the scheme’s impacts would be adhered to.
The meeting also heard claims underlined by the Commercial Boat Operators Association that using a conveyor belt and barges to transport the ash on the nearby canal network was a viable and environmentally- friendly and more profitable alternative to the proposed scheme.
However, a spokesman for the applicants said using HGVs to transport the ash was the only realistic option and the scheme would play a vital part in resolving a number of the country’s most pressing issues, such as housing shortage and self- sufficiency post- Brexit.