AN appeal against a decision to reject plans to build a slurry pit near a dale village is to be heard in public.
Plans by AWSM Farms to construct three buildings and a slurry pit at Lane Head Farm, near Hutton Magna, were rejected by Durham County Council last June.
Some 89 people and seven parish councils objected with many people complaining about flies and smells coming from the site. Had it been approved 70,000 tonnes of waste, including manure, from Durham, Cumbria and Teesside would have been brought to the site.
The plan was to generate electricity from the waste through anaerobic digestion and also to produce fertiliser.
Planners rejected the proposal, saying it “would not fulfil an established need and would result in unnecessary importation of waste into County Durham” .
An appeal against the decision was lodged in November.
ELG Planning, acting on behalf of AWSM Farms, said the concern about waste being brought into the county was unfounded because most of it would come from local farms and there would only “occasionally be a requirement to source food waste from further afield” .
The agent added: “The proposed facility will be the first of its kind in the North East and the nearest comparable facilities are located in Selby and Hull, and these existing plants are currently supplying feedstock to anaerobic digestion plants in the local area, including Leeming Biogas and AVG Biogas.”
However, Durham County Council’s head of planning, Stuart Timmiss, said there was no need to provide “additional municipal waste capacity” in Teesdale because a new waste transfer station has been built in Stainton Grove.
He added that the site is an isolated green field and the development would be an inappropriate development.
The appeal hearing is to heard at The Witham, in Barnard Castle, on October 9.
![A COUNTY councillor is backing a campaign to get a pedestrian crossing in Staindrop. Frustrated parish councillors in the village summoned their county council representative Cllr George Richardson to their latest meeting to discuss several issues, including the call for a safe way to cross the A688. Earlier this year their request for a crossing was turned down by the county council’s highways officers. Parish council chairman Jonothan Raper described the reasons for the refusal as “spurious” and called on Cllr Richardson to support their campaign. He added: “One of the arguments they made was there is no clear line of desire when they studied the village – well this isn’t a clear line of desire because there isn’t a crossing, people cross whenever they can. “When the lollipop person was there, one of the things I noticed was people would walk all the way down to the lollipop person to cross the road to go to the shop or to go to the school.” He added a problem of parking at the primary school is exacerbated because people are too afraid to walk their children across the road. Cllr Richardson said he had supported previous attempts for a crossing point with the first being made about 15 years ago. He added: “We went fairly well down the road with that and they looked into it. The only recommended place was where the bus stop is and to get the visibility splays, people on the other side of the road would lose their parking. “That didn’t go down well so it just died a death.” Cllr Raper said he suspected the real reason for the officers’ refusal was the cost of installing a crossing. He added that much of the cost could be recovered from savings made on not having to employ a lollipop patrol. Cllr Raper said: “A lollipop person only provides a benefit of crossing for three hours of the day. You are getting 21 extra hours of crossing time [with a pedestrian crossing].” Cllr Richardson said he would raise the issue with the county council’s cabinet member for highways, Cllr John Shuttleworth.](https://teesdalemercury.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/georgeR-120x86.jpg)
