Concerns about a lack of public scrutiny have been raised over plans to add hydrogen production and carbon capture facilities to a major North Yorkshire waste incinerator without a new planning application being filed.

Power Consulting Midlands Ltd has applied to North Yorkshire Council to amend the existing planning permission for a waste facility at Kingspan Insulation, in Enterprise Way, Sherburn in Elmet, which is permitted to process up to 240,000 tonnes of waste annually.

The proposals would introduce carbon capture equipment capable of capturing around 100,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, alongside a hydrogen production facility.

The developer says the additional infrastructure would improve the environmental performance of the development without increasing the amount of waste processed.

Kingspan Insulation in Sherburn in Elmet. Photo: Google.

placeholder image — Kingspan Insulation in Sherburn in Elmet. Photo: Google.

However, the North Yorkshire Green Party has questioned whether such significant changes to a development originally approved almost a decade ago should be subject to greater scrutiny by elected councillors and the public.

Outline planning permission for the incinerator was originally granted in 2017.

Since then, the development has evolved through subsequent planning applications and variations.

In a planning statement submitted with the latest application, consultants STAT Planning say the proposed carbon capture system would remove carbon dioxide from the incinerator’s flue gases.

The captured carbon dioxide could then be used directly in Kingspan’s manufacturing processes, reducing the need to import it from elsewhere.

The statement says the carbon capture equipment would operate electrically and would not involve additional combustion or an increase in waste throughput.

It adds that the proposed hydrogen plant would use electricity generated by the incinerator to split water into hydrogen and oxygen, with the hydrogen used to power Kingspan’s logistics vehicles.

Although the proposals would involve rearranging some existing plant and installing an additional 50-metre stack, the developer says the overall mass of the buildings would remain unchanged, with the tallest building still measuring 38 metres.

The planning statement also argues that the changes would not require a fresh environmental impact assessment because there would be no increase in traffic movements, emissions or noise.

It concludes that the proposals would provide additional environmental benefits, support employment and reduce reliance on fossil fuels.

However, North Yorkshire Green Party chair Arnold Warneken questioned whether the changes should be considered through a variation of the existing permission.

He said: “This is no longer the incinerator that was approved almost a decade ago. We are now talking about a 240,000-tonne-a-year waste plant, plus potentially carbon capture and hydrogen production.

“How much can a major development change before elected councillors and the public are given the opportunity to scrutinise it properly? Is North Yorkshire Council doing enough to tell the community what’s proposed?

“Residents should not have to be planning experts, searching through years of applications and variations, to find out what’s being proposed for their community.”

Cllr Warneken said the latest proposals raised wider questions about democratic accountability, particularly as North Yorkshire Council prepares to introduce new arrangements governing which planning decisions are made by officers rather than elected members.

The Environment Agency granted an environmental permit for the incinerator in September, although this does not cover the proposed carbon capture and hydrogen production facilities.

Concerns about public engagement have previously been raised by Sherburn in Elmet Town Council, which wrote to the Environment Agency in June calling for greater consultation over the incinerator.

However, the agency did not classify the environmental permit application as being of high public interest, meaning it did not receive enhanced consultation.

Chair of the town council, Councillor Peter Baumann said: “This is not simply an adjustment to an existing application. It is a completely separate process with completely different outputs.

“Hydrogen production is not required for the incineration process, so I believe it warrants a full planning application, giving the community every opportunity to scrutinise the proposals and have their say.”

The application, reference 26/04654/DVCMAJ, can be viewed on the council’s planning portal.