MINUTE 182 (AP)
The Annual Parish Meeting was held on Friday 9th March 2012
in the primary school hall, The Beck, commencing 7.30pm.
COUNCILLORS PRESENT: - Mr Garland (Chairman), Mrs
Batten (Vice Chair) Messrs. Lambert, Cooper, Storey, Lawrence, Spanswick, Mrs McGeeney and Mrs Smith. Also present 83 parishioners (2 not eligible to
vote) 4 representatives from REGBIO, V Fear Lynn News, PCSO Watson & PC
Asker and one resident from Hockwold.
APOLOGIES - received from Mr Glasscock.
DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST - none for this meeting.
The Chairman opened the meeting by reading a statement advising that
during his 23 years serving on the Parish Council, he and all other Councillors
past & present have always endeavoured to do the
best for the village. All are volunteers & neither receive payment or claim
expenses. He wished to make it clear that at no time in the last 23 years has
he ever taken a backhander, a bribe or a gift from any person or business, he
and the Parish Council in general have been accused of doing just that over the
past few weeks, he knows this to be true as a gentleman telephoned his wife and
told her so. The Chairman trusted that such allegations would not be repeated
in the room tonight. Mr Wing said that not everyone should be tarred with the
same brush. The Chairman advised the purpose of a Parish Meeting is to discuss “issues
specific to members of the Parish” and as this meeting was bought forward in
order to properly allow time to discuss the planning application by REGBIO to
build a bio-fuelled power plant on Council land down the Old Brandon Road, he
suspects this will be the main topic this evening. To facilitate a proper
informed debate REGBIO was invited to attend this evening, 4 representatives
were present. The Chairman outlined the rules for the meeting - Standing orders
prohibited the meeting from lasting longer than 2 ½ hours. In order to provide
fair access to the time he has been advised to allow people to only speak once,
this prevents a small number of people dominating the meeting, however, at the
risk of being accused of being bias, he will endeavour
to be slightly flexible on this but please be understanding if he does not come
back for the 3rd, 4th or 5th time. Only
parishioners on the electoral list will be allowed to vote, should a vote be
taken and to this end he would ask that the white cards should be raised.
Before you speak, for the purpose of the meeting, you give your name.
MINUTES of the last Annual Parish meeting were read by Clerk,
agreed and duly signed by the Chairman.
MATTERS ARISING
1 Interest - Mr Samuels
enquired if any action has been taken to invest the Councils reserves longer
term to generate a better interest return. Clerk advised some of the capital
reserve has been earmarked for the possible building of new facilities on the playingfield. Chairman advised that no plans to invest long
term and tie up the monies have been made.
2 Bio-Fuelled Power
Plant - OBR - The Chairman invited the representatives from REGBIO to give a
presentation, with questions to be asked at the end of the presentation. Mr
Collins, Managing Director of the company and Mr Booth development director, introduced
themselves to the meeting. A presentation was made using a screen and Mr
Collins advised of the sites they operate from. Their basic business is
recycling old cooking oils and turning them into a bio fuel called LF100 -
samples were on show.
MINUTE 183 (AP)
MATTERS ARISING CONT
2 The plant in Hockwold was
opened in 2006 and the recycled fuel has been used to run the plant for the
past 2 ½ years and any surplus electricity is put into the national grid -
Living Fuels collect the oil from over 400 sites, Living Power burns it, these
all form part of the REGBIO company. In 2009 the Environment Agency granted the
company an “End of Waste” status as the fuel produced was more
friendly & less harmful than burning diesel. The size of the
delivery vehicle was shown, this would be a 18ton
tanker. Mr Booth advised the proposals
for the Feltwell site, this would not be wider than the already present
substation, so would not be anymore visible. The site
would consist of 6 containers each housing 2 gen sets ,
fuel storage tanks and transformers. The noise emitted was advised, in the
slide show people were standing and talking beside a working plant - they are
not noisy. Visual impact, the plant would be screened and fenced. Emissions -
the fuel burnt is more friendly & less harmful than diesel, there is no
smoke or oily deposits. Odour - the exhaust is odourless, there has been no odour
issues on 4 operational sites. Deliveries - depending on fuel burnt but
probably one delivery every 1-2 weeks, the plant will use around 180 tonnes of fuel per year..
Operating times - these plants are put in to support the National Grid during
crisis - running periods are restricted to 7am-1.30pm and 4pm-10pm - running
times typically average 90 minutes/150 hours per year. Maintenance visits once
per week. Why was Feltwell chosen? - the site is only
2.5 miles from the processing plant, this reduces traffic journeys which is
better for the environment and the proximity to the electrical substation. The
site is SSSI sensitive and it is expected that the planning officer will
determine requirements so as not to disturb the environment. A film of the
opening of the Leeds site was shown. Questions were invited. Parishioners asked
the following questions -
Fuel usage and delivery schedules did not add up, these were explained
by Mr Booth.
How much was this plant going to cost the Company? What happens to the
site if the Company went bust and how a profit could be made from only having
the site working for up to 150 hours per year? Did the Company receive grants,
were asked and responded to by Mr Collins.
Would we be able to sit in our gardens and have windows open - would
there be a smell or oil deposits?
The Bentwaters site has a tall chimney, not
shown on presentation - this chimney is a heat exchanger not on presentation as
not applicable to Feltwell site.
What happens to the used oil? It was advised only clean refined oil
leaves the Hockwold plant.
What good would this plant do for the village? The land would be leased
at a commercial rate. The Clerk advised any monies accrued from a lease could
be used within the village as it would be a revenue income unlike the capital
monies in reserve which can only be used for capital projects within the
village.
There is a substation near the old tip why could this not be used? A lot
of sites have been investigated but some were not viable due to technical
issues re EDF.
The noise levels were questioned - Mr Booth responded and the Chairman
referred to the planning application.
Security & local employment were enquired - the site would be
unmanned but fenced and the Company strives to employ local people.
Could the plant be converted to use other fuels? No reason why not.
Would the Company enter into a legal agreement with the Parish Council
to limit the working hours of the plant, in case the National Grid required
more than specified? The planning process determines this and would have to be
changed through the required process.
The carbon footprint was discussed. All other sites were brown fields
where as Feltwell is green fields? Permission has been granted for a plant at
Lakenheath, this is a green field site.
Parishioner felt that the junction of OBR needed to be widened. Perhaps
a speed limit on the OBR was necessary. What position the exhausts faced were
enquired - North to South.
MINUTE 184 (AP)
MATTERS ARISING CONT
2 Where was the used oil sourced
from - approx. ½ from private sector and ½ from food trade The length of the
lease was enquired.
A parishioner felt that land was
being removed from use that gave young farmers a chance to farm. The Chairman
advised that when first approached the Council had a duty to look at this
scheme which would accrue a lot higher revenue from a small piece of land. Mr
Storey, as Chairman of the allotment committee, advised of the land available
in the Parish. Of just over 42 acres of land only 4 acres of this is used for
garden allotments, the purpose of allotment land, the rest is let out on short
term farm tenancies. Mr Storey gave a breakdown of the number of tenants and
expressed that he would like to see all the land used for its purpose of
allotment gardens. The Clerk advised an allotment garden is an area not
exceeding 1 rood i.e. ¼ acre.
Did any of the company representatives present live within 1 mile of one
of these plants? Not at present.
Could the Hockwold plant be visited? Mr Collins advised he would arrange
a visit to the plant, even though it is smaller the fuel and engine size were
the same. Parishioners were advised to check the notice board and shops for
notice of an arranged visit.
Could the plant still be built in the village on private land if not on
parish land? The Chairman advised that yes this would be a possibility.
Parishioners expressed support for the plant - the increase in traffic
would be minimal, the possible revenue could do a lot for the village and
Feltwell should be seen as a community supporting alternative forms of energy.
The Chairman thanked REGBIO for attending the meeting, they finished at
9.30pm.
During the debate Ms E Mills requested that a Parish Poll is held, this
was supported by V Cock, C Cock, J Secker, N Fletcher, B Reeves, J Reeves, D
Waters, B Waters, N Freeman, M Murfitt - this request
was also submitted in writing together with the signatures of those supporting.
The Chairman advised that the cost of a poll had to be met by the parish and it
has been advised this will be in the region of £2000 and as a poll had been
requested and supported one had to be held. Mrs J
Batten proposed that the question to be asked on the poll should be “SHOULD THE
PARISH LEASE LAND TO
REGBIO FOR THE BUILDING OF A BIO-POWER PLANT”, seconded Mr E Lambert, 54 in favour, 8 against, motion carried. The Clerk advised that
voting cards will not be received and those wishing to vote would have to
attend a polling station and vote either yes or no to the question set, polling
stations would be open from 4-9pm only. When the date is set by the returning
officer notices will be put up around the village.
ANY OTHER BUSINESS
3 Empty Property - Oak
Street - a resident expressed concerns
re the safety of a empty property in Oak Street, Clerk advised this has already
been reported to the Borough Council, response not yet received, Clerk would
chase this up.
4 Confidence Vote - Mr Marsden expressed a
vote of confidence in the Parish Council and proposed that this meeting
expressed a vote of confidence & thanks to the Parish Councillors
for the time, energy, effort and finance they have given and are giving in
their service to the community - the majority of parishioners present supported
this proposal.
5 Chairman - Mr Garland
advised that as previously advised to the Council there would be a vacancy on
the Parish Council from May as he is standing down - he encouraged those
present to stand for the vacant position.
The meeting was closed at 9.50pm.