Agenda item

To receive any questions relating to items on the Agenda from members of the public and replies thereto.

Note:   A maximum of 30 minutes is allowed for this item.

Dr Bratby referring to Item 11 on the agenda stated:

Some of you may be aware that I have been examining the anaerobic digester industry in Devon since the application for the Tiverton Energy Centre was first proposed in 2009. The paper by Councillor Barnell makes proposals for an inquiry, the third proposal in the paper being to examine the business structure, funding, history and impacts of the Bio Energy Industry in Devon including the history of Planning applications. Hopefully by now you will be aware from the two reports circulated before the meeting that this work has already been done by a group of experts.

I welcome the proposal in Councillor Barnell's report. Firstly, can he say what the ultimate purpose or outcome of the inquiry is likely to be and on what timescale? Apart from making recommendations, will it actually result in any changes being made?

Secondly, a report was produced in August 2018 by a Scrutiny Committee Working Party on the subject of Anaerobic Digestion. It made three recommendations, but to members of the public it appears that nothing has changed since that report was issued and the AD industry has carried on regardless. Do you think that the results of this inquiry will result in a better outcome for the long-suffering public?

Cllr Barnell stated that he would respond during the debate on the item.

The Chairman indicated with regard to the second question that he had read through the 2018 report, whether any proposed inquiry would provide a better outcome, he did not know but it was hoped that any outcome would be something that would make a difference.

The Chairman read a set of questions from Mr Cashmore (speaking as a member of the public) again referring to Item 11 on the agenda:

My name is Roger Cashmore; I am the Vice Chair of Newton St Cyres Parish Council and a member of the Exe Valley Residents Association.  I am also one of a growing army of disgruntled residents also scrutinising the working practices of this local Devon AD industry.  

I would have loved to speak personally but unfortunately I am under the drill at the dentist. 

I am grateful to Cllr Barnell for proposing this subject for consideration and can confirm that, once set up, there are large numbers of highly qualified witnesses,    specialist briefing papers,   reports and FOIs, etc. that will be made available to the committee.

Local accountants, for example recently confirmed that one local operator is in debt to the tune of over £60million, another recent AD insolvency of over £40million repaid a measly 1.5p in the pound back to the tax payer?.  Another interesting fact is the yearly distance associated with just moving feedstock & digestate to a single Devon AD plant, is actually the equivalent of driving a heavily laden diesel HGV twice round the Earth! 

This business is neither sustainable nor green.  It generates miniscule amounts of some of the most expensive energy in the world.  We can and must do so much better

Rather than wait for all the other agencies to wake up and do their job there are a few simple local planning policy changes that this council could support and implement now. Therefore please answer the following simple questions:-

1)    When is this council actually going to start to rigorously police and enforce its own existing planning conditions? And how do they intend to do it?

2)    Can you confirm that this council has a robust process capable of confirming to the public that these AD operators are paying the correct levels of business rates?

3)    Rather than having to submit FOIs, is there any reason preventing this council from insisting AD operators submit monthly production reports, rather than quarterly in arrears?,  and then from actually publishing these monthly productions figures on the internet, in order to permit closer public scrutiny?

It will be so easy for scrutiny to conclude we “don’t have the resource” or that it is “all the fault of Westminster”. But I would remind councillors this business has been running in Mid Devon for well over 7 years now, and some members actually voted against their planners’ advice in order to set it all up. 

The Chairman indicated that a written response would be provided to Mr Cashmore.