DWD has obtained full planning permission for a 113-hectare, six million tonne pulverised fuel ash (PFA) extraction project in Nottinghamshire, on behalf of Hive Aggregates.
PFA is the fine ash residue burning coal, with the ash at the site originating from the former Cottam Power Station. This ash is a finite resource and can be reused as a cement substitute. The six million tonnes of PFA can therefore displace some five millions of tonnes of carbon emissions that would result from the equivalent amount of cement production.
The PFA is contained in former disposal lagoons, east of the villages of Lound and Sutton cum Lound, near Retford and would be extracted at a rate of around 300,000 tonnes per year for up to 25 years in an environmentally managed way and dried in purpose built facilities. Progressive and environment led restoration of the site would follow on after extraction.
The county council’s Planning and Rights of Way Committee voted narrowly in favour of the application after a comprehensive debate following the planning officer’s presentation and overall recommendation and public speakers both for and against the proposed development.
DWD supported the project from its inception, carrying out good practice pre application consultation with local communities and pre application engagement with the minerals planning authority, then coordinating a team of professionals including ERM (Environmental Impact Assessment), SLR (geoenvironmental) and Counter Context (communications) to prepare a comprehensive planning application. A mandatory Schedule 1 EIA was required. DWD also coordinated amendments to the application following a Regulation 25 request for further environmental information, including adjustments to working methods and responding to consultee requests to improve the restoration scheme’s ecology and recreational benefits. The site is currently lightly grazed with thin topsoils overlain on the ash, but following restoration will deliver high quality public routes, reinstated grazing, along with remarkable levels of biodiversity net gain of over 40%. The project supports wider decarbonisation aims balanced with public benefits, agricultural use and ecological enhancements.
Hugh Brennan, UK managing director at Hive Energy, said:
“I am incredibly proud to see the RCEP moving forward. This carbon-saving project has the potential to bring numerous benefits to the local area and will hopefully instigate more positive change within the cement industry. It has taken over four years of securing land, quality testing, extensive consultation with the local community and statutory consultees, extensive and ongoing environmental surveys, a very challenging and extended planning and permitting process, and dedication from a team of skilled professionals covering a wide variety of disciplines.”
DWD is delighted to be supporting Hive in advancing the proposals to construction stage.