‘It is going to be horrendous’
White Waltham: Villagers worried by generator scheme
Angry White Waltham residents fear a planned gasfired electricity generator in the countryside will resemble a ‘small prison’ after developers submitted fresh proposals.
Concerned villagers say the ‘horrendous’ plans should be ‘dead’ after a previous planning application was turned down by the Royal Borough in November.
A petition was set up campaigning against these plans last year, garnering more than 1,600 signatures, and Tina Green, who set the appeal up, said the community is frustrated they will now have to go through the same process again.
London-based developers Maidenhead West Power Ltd – also known as Statera Energy – have submitted plans to develop the gas-fired electricity generating facility on land to the south of Howe Lane Farm, in Howe Lane.
It would have a generating capacity of up to 49.99 megawatts, and construction would also involve associated infrastructure, access and landscaping.
Tina – along with her partner Russell Watts, who owns Howe Lane Farm – feel the non-renewable development goes against the UK’s climate change ambitions.
They also fear increased
traffic on narrow country roads and argue there is no special circumstance which would make such a development acceptable on greenbelt land.
“It is causing a small community an immense amount of stress,” Tina said.
“There is no way they can dress this up – it is going to be horrendous.
“And because of the security fencing, it is going to look like a small prison on what is farmland and fields.
“I cannot understand how a gas-fired electricity generating facility can aid the council in meeting their climate reduction requirements.”
Tina added: “The roads around here are congested and very narrow and the size of the cranes they are going to have to bring in; I have no idea how they are going to do it.
“This will have a dramatic impact on the local residents.”
The plans have been called in by ward councillor
Maureen Hunt, who wants the application to be debated by a panel rather than going through planning officers only.
Russell is worried that the new structures will have an impact on access to his farming business, which his family has been running for centuries.
“They had an application refused in November, so as far as we are concerned, [that is] dead,” he said. “They are burning gas to create electric. In today’s world, why don’t they put a solar panel farm there?
“They are going to leave us with an eyesore which they may not even use. We will have two years of total disruption.”
Russell added that there is also an historic woodland nearby which has already been ‘cut in half’ to make way for the M4 – he fears more development in the vicinity will have a negative impact on wildlife there.
“I am worried about what it will do to the environment and the roads around us,” he said. “Greenbelt should never be disturbed. They [the developers] have no idea what it is like to live in the countryside.”
Tina has set up another petition against the plans. To view it, visit bit.ly/3eammPa
Maidenhead West Power Ltd (Statera Energy) were contacted for comment.