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Help us stop Acorn Bioenergy from destroying our countryside
Acorn propose to build a large anaerobic digester, an industrial gas production plant, on 8.45 hectares (equal to 12 football pitches) of greenfield land in the north of Tysoe parish.
Help us protect our local area, nearby Cotswold AONB, farmland, heritage assets and wildlife habitat before it’s too late.
Why say ‘No’?
There will be effects of this development in respect of traffic, emissions, odour, light pollution and noise, as well as effects on ecology and the local and wider landscape. Please OBJECT to the proposal and avoid a dangerous precedent being set for building industrial sites in rural, greenfield locations.
Take action NOW
We have been contacted by many people asking whether they should submit comments on Acorn’s latest amendments. The answer is YES! The more people who respond to let the Planning Officer know their feelings the better. Your comments MUST be received by TUESDAY 21st NOVEMBER 2023.
stophardwickenergy.org is a collective of local residents who are working together to object to Acorn Bioenergy’s planning application to Stratford-Upon-Avon District Council (SDC) for permission to construct and operate one of the largest anaerobic digestion plants in the country – on productive arable land north of Tysoe, off the A422.
Many local villages (Tysoe, Oxhill, Kineton, Radway, Edgehill, Pillerton, Ettington, Wroxton and Drayton to name a few) will be impacted.
After many week’s of work, Tysoe Parish Council’s official response (objection) to the planning application for Hardwick anaerobic digester was submitted to Stratford District Council in December 2022. You can view, download and read (all 144 pages!) here: Tysoe Parish Council – Response to planning application 22/02935/FUL
UPDATE: Here is Tysoe Parish Council’s response to Acorn’s latest amendments to their application to build a large industrial gas plant in Tysoe parish: Tysoe Parish Council – Response to the amendments 14/11/2023 You will see from the document that Tysoe PC are strongly of the view that Acorn have given scant regard to the objections raised by so many individuals and institutions and their list of amendments does nothing to change the fact that the application should be rejected.
Where is the proposed plant?
The site for the proposed Anaerobic Digester (AD) is just under 2km from the nearest boundary of the Cotswold AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty), and clearly visible from it, and is in the foothills of the site of the famous battle of Edgehill of 1642.
The proposed location is not a brownfield site – it is a greenfield site currently in farm production; it is not an industrial location.
The site is just over 2km north of Lower Tysoe, and 250m west of Hardwick House (Grade II listed) and the community of Hardwick Farm Barns. It is also 1.5km from the MoD Kineton weapons storage facility.
The Cotswold AONB is protected by statute and by policies in Stratford-Upon-Avon District Council’s own Core Strategy. The views to and from the Edgehill Escarpment are one of its special qualities and are legally protected. A huge industrial facility with all its ancillary infrastructure could not ‘conserve and enhance the natural beauty and landscape character’ of this National Landscape. How can the proposed development be satisfactorily integrated into the character and appearance of the villages and environs?
Building a large industrial plant would be almost criminally negligent in respect of the huge damage it would do.
If the development is allowed to go ahead, it would ruin the ancient and rural countryside in the area and intrude into the cherished views from the Cotswold AONB. It would be out of scale with the existing rural buildings in the area and become the dominant feature of the landscape.
Why say ‘No’?
What are the main issues?
- This is not the right location for an Anaerobic Digestion Plant; it will damage the rural character of the area
- It will ruin our cherished views and tranquillity
- It will wreck our historic landscape, and damage ecology, as well as cause noise and light pollution
- It will cause traffic chaos, with a huge increase in heavy vehicles on our roads
- When taking into account the transportation of feedstocks, energy to run the site, and transport to disperse and deliver products, this is NOT GREEN
- There is a risk of chemical contamination and damage to the environment
- There is a risk of smell
- It has no benefit to the local community*
* The maxim of harm vs benefit runs through many of the planning policies and is a major consideration when reviewing an application such as this.