Controversial Bletchley planning application to be discussed at public meeting

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Controversial plans to double the amount of gas being stored at a depot in Bletchley are set to be discussed at a public meeting on Wednesday (September 25).

The meeting is taking place at St Andrew’s Baptist Church at 7.30pm and is being jointly organised by West Bletchley Council and Newton Longville Parish Council.

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The original planning application for the installation of a gas tanker offloading facility for the injection of renewable gas into the national gas distribution network was granted by Buckinghamshire Council in May 2022.

There were more than 1,400 objections to the application, made by Acorn Bioenergy Limited, a developer of anaerobic digestion sites, which was first submitted in October 2020.

A view of the entrance to the gas depot on Bletchley Road, the subject of a controversial planning application set to be discussed at a public meeting next weekA view of the entrance to the gas depot on Bletchley Road, the subject of a controversial planning application set to be discussed at a public meeting next week
A view of the entrance to the gas depot on Bletchley Road, the subject of a controversial planning application set to be discussed at a public meeting next week

It was approved 18 months later after various changes including the removal of a gas flare and the removal of storage of propane on site were made.

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A Section 73 application has now been made as a variation of condition two, the transport statement, of the original application.

If approved, this would result in a new planning permission being granted.

Information sent to Bletchley and Newton Longville residents and seen by the Citizen raises concerns about proposals to double the amount of gas stored on site from 15 tonnes to 30 tonnes, as well as increasing the capacity of storage in the tankers from 9,000 standard cubic metres (scm) to 15,000scm.

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Other concerns raised by residents include the volume of gas being transported through Bletchley and Newton Longville and the proximity of residential properties to the public road along which HGVs would be passing.

The information document calls on residents to object, and describes the proposals as “poorly thought out” and in “a very unsuitable location, so close to houses.”

The closing date to comment on the application is September 30.

The Citizen has approached the applicants Acorn Bioenergy Limited for a comment on the concerns raised by residents.