News / Environment
Fossil fuel power plant turned down
Cheers erupted as the council turned down a gas power plant in a residential area of Bristol, refusing a last minute request to delay the decision.
Proposals put forward by UK Power Reserve included 14 gas generators with 11-metre high chimney stacks on a brownfield site on the corner of Saxon Road, a residential street in St Werburgh’s.
Councillors voted 8-2 in favour of throwing out the application in front of a crowd of residents who had gathered to vent their frustrations.
Residents had been campaigning against the plans for months and the planning application had gained more than 700 objections.
Two other planning applications for similar plants powered by diesel in Lockleaze and St Philip’s were withdrawn a few days before the meeting. All three would have created power for the Government-subsidised back-up energy Stor programme.
Planning officers recommended the St Werburgh’s plans should be turned down based on impact to air quality, noise and visual amenity.
Dozens of residents spoke out at the meeting before a vote was taken. Gus Hoyt, Green Party councillor for the Ashley ward, where the power station would have been, added to the objections.
“This application goes against everything Bristol is going trying to achieve and goes against everything our world leaders are discussing this week in Paris,” he said.
Councillors on the planning committee were almost united in their objection. Fabian Breckels, Labour, St George West, said the application was another example of the Bristol Green Capital project going “down the pan”. He added: “I don’t think we will get anywhere as a city by passing this application.”
The developers added a last-minute request that the application should be deferred while plans were amended to mitigate the air quality and noise impacts, as well as the reducing the height of the chimneys.
But councillors refused to budge and voted 8-2, with one abstention, to turn down the application, with Conservatives Richard Eddy and Kevin Quartley voting in support of the power plant.
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