Green waste processing plan for airfield site sparks health fears

Sheffield-based Green Estate has joined forces with Doncaster firm Silvapower to draw up the blueprints using existing hangars at Norton Aerodrome, on the southern edge of Sheffield city centre.

If the scheme is approved by planners, the site will be used for “green composting” and the processing of timber waste to make “wood-chip biomass which could be used as fuel for power generation”.

However, two petitions containing almost 200 signatures have been submitted to Sheffield Council objecting to the application, with the main concern being the site’s location in the green belt.

Other objections include the site’s proximity to houses and farmland, noise, smells and disturbance, problems with vandalism and the existence of better alternative sites within the city boundary.

In a report to go before Sheffield Council’s city centre, south and east planning and highways area board next week, officers also say 65 individual letters of objection have also been received by the authority.

According to the application, the site would be used for a temporary three-year period, but several locals claim this is “unrealistic” bearing in mind the length of time the composting process takes.

The management of the nearby Woodland View Nursing Home have also objected saying their residents are “frail and susceptible to illness”.

The home says the “primary concern is the health hazard from bio-aerosols causing lung infections, bronchitis and asthma”, as well as noise and traffic and possible expansion.

Clive Betts, the area’s MP, has also submitted objections to the council about the application, saying he supports the nursing home and adds: “The nearest residence is 120 metres away, which is too close for this type of activity.

“The Woodland View Nursing Home offers palliative care and many residents are in ill-health.

“Valley Park primary school and the nursing home are close to the site and children and elderly people are extremely susceptible fungus which can cause severe lung infections.”

Other objections have been lodged by city councillors Ian Auckland, Bryan Lodge and Karen McGowan, who all cite health concerns and problems with the traffic implications and the size of the industrial process.

Coun Auckland also refers to the fact that the site is allocated in council plans as a possible site for a park and ride scheme, which has itself also met with opposition.

Six individual letters of support have been submitted stating that the site would limit anti-social behaviour which currently takes place on the site while contributing to the city’s green credentials.

The Forestry Commission and the South Yorkshire Forest have also lent the scheme support saying there is a demand for the type of fuel which would be produced by the facility.

As part of the application Green Estate has made a case for establishing the special circumstances which would allow it to develop the composting and waste wood operation in the green belt.

According to submissions to the planning board, 20 other sites have already been considered and “all have been disregarded due to costs, siting and suitability”.

It is expected that planning officers will advise members of the board to grant permission for the project.

Their report says: “The applicant has provided information about other sites which have been considered but are not suitable and has made a case that the highly sustainable nature of both activities and their contribution to the limiting effects of climate change will be of significant benefit.”

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