PLANS for an £80m renewable energy park are due to be approved next week despite hundreds of objections from residents in Houghton, Darfield, Grimethorpe, Cudworth and Shafton.
Peel Environmental's plan includes two centres on the former Houghton Colliery site, off Park Spring Road. Both will generate electricity and heat, one from waste timber, and the other from waste food in the form of an anaerobic digestion facility.
The council has received 322 individual letters of objection as well as a petition signed by 111 people. Objections have also been submitted by parish councils in Little Houghton, Great Houghton, and Billingley, as well as Brierley Town Council.
Residents claim smells are a significant problem at other anaerobic plants in this country and abroad, and that these smells will affect Little Houghton, Great Houghton, Middlecliffe, Darfield, Grimethorpe, Cudworth, and Shafton.
The plans will go before councillors at the planning board on Tuesday and are recommended for approval.
** The full story appears on the Barnsley Chronicle, dated November 14. **
