Clamour grows against 'green' energy plant at former pit site

The proposals, to redevelop the disused North Selby mine site into a 30m bio-renewables research facility to operate beside an energy recovery plant that will generate enough heat and electricity to power nearly 40,000 homes, were revealed earlier this year.

It is believed as many as 100 jobs could be created if the development goes ahead.

But residents in the villages of Wheldrake, Deighton and Escrick, just one mile away from the proposed site, have risen up in protest against the plans, saying the new site would be a blot on the landscape.

Members of North Selby Mine Action Group, which has formed in opposition to the proposals, say a survey of 120 residents who attended a recent public consultation event in Escrick, showed 98 per cent were opposed to the development.

As a planning application is due to be submitted to York Council in February, campaigners say they are now stepping up the fight.

Escrick Parish Council chairman Steve Smowton said: "We are totally against this. It is completely inappropriate and is the wrong development in the wrong place. Locally there is a lot of strong opposition.

"It's clear that the community sees no merit in UK Coal's proposals for North Selby mine and do not want the site to be developed.

"A rural setting like this within the green belt is a totally wrong place to build a waste disposal plant."

The main criticisms of the proposals are over the scale of the project, the impact it will have on local air quality and the pressure it will place on local roads.

Campaigners say the former site should instead be returned to agricultural use, which they claim was part of a deal agreed in the 1970s –that once coal mining was finished the site would be used for farming.

A spokesman for North Selby Mine Action Group, Mark Oldridge, said: "We have been campaigning against this development since it was first announced about a year ago and we are building momentum.

"There are still quite a few people in the area that know about this but we are getting a lot more support – hundreds of people are against it.

"To build this site they would have to bring 160,000 tonnes by HGV to this rural location and the roads are not suitable.

"We are sending out a clear message that this is not something we want to see and are hoping to raise as much awareness now locally as possible."

During several public consultation events, officials from Science City York have teamed up with the North Selby site owners, UK Coal, and an energy company, Peel Environmental, to promote what they claim could be a cornerstone of a growing clean energy market in the region.

The chief executive of Science City York, Prof Nicola Spence, said: "The research facility will provide a unique opportunity to drive business growth across the region.

"By developing and testing fuels, materials and speciality chemicals made from the crops and plants we grow here, we will support Yorkshire and Humber's already international reputation as a world leader in the development of the technologies of the future."

The centre is due to generate up to 22MW of energy – enough power to meet the average needs of about 37,000 homes.

Non-hazardous waste left over from recycling will be treated using techniques including anaerobic digestion, where micro-organisms break down biodegradable material, to generate renewable energy.

A planning application is due to be submitted to York Council in February. A decision is expected early next summer.