North Yorkshire Council has granted planning permission for a £20 million anaerobic digestion facility at the former RAF Skipton-on-Swale airfield, despite local objections over traffic and environmental concerns.
The 12.69-hectare site, operated by Advanced Fuel Partners, will process up to 144,000 tonnes per year of agricultural waste and manure to produce renewable biomethane for injection into the national gas grid. The facility is expected to generate enough renewable gas to heat approximately 8,760 households annually.
The development will also produce up to 90,000 tonnes of solid digestate and 50,000 tonnes of liquid digestate for use as organic fertiliser, alongside 17,000 tonnes of food-grade carbon dioxide and 17,000 tonnes of ammonium sulphate as sustainable alternatives to chemical industry products.
Operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week, the plant will generate an average of 88 two-way HGV movements daily, rising to 118 during seasonal peaks for approximately 60 days per year. Deliveries will be restricted to 07:00–19:00 on weekdays and 07:00–13:00 on Saturdays.
Construction is expected to take 18 months, with the facility employing seven full-time equivalent workers once operational.
Sandhutton Parish Council and local residents raised significant concerns about HGV impacts, noise, light pollution, odour, air quality and potential contamination of nearby watercourses. Objectors also questioned the adequacy of pre-consultation, which they said excluded villages including Skipton-on-Swale and Baldersby.
However, statutory consultees including the Environment Agency, Lead Local Flood Authority and Highway Authority raised no objections, subject to conditions. The council's scientific and environmental health officers confirmed that air quality, odour and noise impacts would be negligible with proposed mitigation measures.
The development will deliver 24.49% biodiversity net gain for habitats and 592% for hedgerows, secured through extensive landscaping including structural planting along boundaries and grassland creation.
Council officers concluded that whilst the development would cause temporary landscape and visual impacts during construction, these would reduce significantly once mitigation planting matures. The proposal was deemed acceptable under waste management, renewable energy and sustainable development policies.
The approval includes conditions restricting construction hours, requiring adherence to traffic management plans, and securing a 30-year habitat management programme. A unilateral undertaking will also secure routing agreements and ecology monitoring fees.
North Yorkshire Council approves major AD plant near Thirsk
