Planners set to give backing to gas-fired power station scheme

Coal fired Thorpe Marsh Power Station, near the village of Barnby Dun, north of Doncaster, closed in the mid-1990s but its cooling towers still stand and can be seen from miles around.

Several years ago a proposal was made to demolish the old infrastructure on the site and build a gas-fired plant, and now detailed plans have been drawn up for approval by Doncaster Council.

Because the application has been made using the Electricity Act, the authority’s planning committee, which meets on Tuesday, can only make a recommendation for it to be approved or rejected.

The final decision will be made by the Liberal Democrat Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Chris Huhne.

According to the blueprints submitted by Thorpe March Power Ltd and site owner Able UK Ltd, the site is capable of hosting a 1500 megawatt station, which the firms claim could create up to 600 local jobs.

A report written by Doncaster Council’s planning department says that if approved, the power station would use existing pylons and substations to distribute the electricity generated on the site.

It adds: “The plant will only burn natural gas, which is an inherently clean fuel.

“Natural gas will not be stored on site but will be brought to the site by a new gas pipeline linking into the national transmission system by one of two potential routes to the north of the site.

“The final routing and consenting of the pipeline will be the subject of a separate planning application and environmental statement.

Objectors to the scheme have written 25 letters detailing concerns such as noise, a reduction in air quality, adverse impact on house prices and traffic.

However, local parish councillors have indicated that they support the development.

The South Yorkshire branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) said it was objecting on two major grounds.

Its head of planning, Andy Tickle, said: “Thorpe Marsh Power Limited states that more electricity will be needed as old power stations are retired in the next decade.

“We argue that if the Government is to meet targets to supply more renewable energy and address climate change, only renewable and low-carbon power sources should be permitted. These proposals are neither.”

Mr Tickle said CPRE South Yorkshire also had serious concerns about the impact the development would have on the flat, open landscape.

“The new power station will be up to 60 metres high, and you will be able to see it for miles. There’s some lovely countryside around the site, which local people really value,” he said.

“Doncaster Council has specific policies which only allow developments that improve the site. Adding a huge new power station here clearly won’t do this.”

The Thorpe Marsh site was decommissioned in 1994 and CPRE South Yorkshire said it was lobbying for the original cooling towers to be removed too.

“The cooling towers should have been removed when the old power station went, and taking them down should not be used to justify this development,” Mr Tickle added.

CPRE South Yorkshire said it would write to the Secretary of State for energy and climate change to recommend that the application is refused because a new fossil fuelled power station will go against national policies on global, and cause significant local environmental impacts.

Mr Tickle urged local people to send their comments to Doncaster Council, and lobby their local councillor to say no to the new power station.

If councillors refuse to back the scheme a public inquiry will be held over the application.