News / avonmouth
Backing for Avonmouth power plant opponents
A councillor and parliamentary candidate for Bristol North West has publicly backed opponents of a biomass power plant proposed for Avonmouth.
Clare Campion-Smith said the plant, which would be fuelled by treated waste wood, was “not the answer to our energy problems”.
Councillors will make the final decision over whether the 11MW power plant at Chittening Industrial Estate at a meeting next month.
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The plant would process 60,000 tonnes of waste wood a year to create a natural gas, which would then be burned to generate electricity.
Campion-Smith, councillor for Henleaze and the Liberal Democrats’ candidate to take on Tory Charlotte Leslie MP next year, said she was concerned at “pollution and health risks to residents in the immediate area – and to all of Bristol”.
“Biomass has its merits and it has a role to play in our country’s move towards a low-carbon economy,” she said.
“But I am very concerned about the pollution and health risks to residents in the immediate area – and to all of Bristol – when the wind is blowing strongly across the city. This is not to mention the unquantified environmental damage and health risks if flooding occurs.
“With the right safeguards in place, sustainably sourced biomass can make a useful contribution to renewable energy. However at present I am not satisfied that these potential dangers have been addressed.”
Green Party cabinet member Cllr Gus Hoyt has backed the technologyin principle, while Labour’s candidate in Bristol North West, Darren Jones, said he backed the investment in the area but wanted Avonmouth to be somewhere more than a district “where we burn things”.
Councillors will debate the power plant plan on November 5. See the planning application in full here…
Picture: A biomass power plant with wood fuel / Shutterstock
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