The Old Parsonage
Merston, Chichester PO20 1DZ
Mr Chris Bartlett
County Development
West Sussex County Council
County Hall
Chichester PO19 1RG
June 17, 2010
Dear Mr Bartlett
Application WSCC/061/10/NM
I would like to lodge an objection to this application. The principal reason is that the development is unsuited to the location proposed.
What is proposed is an installation which in terms of height, mass and appearance will be quite out of keeping with its rural environment. Its elevations and construction materials will clash with nearby older residential properties and compete on the skyline with the medieval church of St Giles and, from certain viewpoints, the cathedral spire.
The tallest buildings, the digester towers and storage tank, will be one and half times the height of silos of the VHB Humber CHP plant east of Marsh Lane, and similar in height to the packhouse on the food park. The plant’s proposed siting out in the open, on its own, on a flat plain, whose water table precludes the sinking of the towers to reduce their height, is calculated to maximise its visual intrusiveness.
There are landscaping proposals that include hedgerows and poplars to screen the north and east of the site. But poplars will take up to 30 years to reach tower height and will be bare in the winter. And even when the trees are fully grown, the 4.5 acre site with its industrial buildings and perimeter screens will continue to stand out from its surroundings and create an alien presence in the countryside.
The gross visual intrusion will harm the amenity of residents. It will be jarring too for visitors to this part of southern Chichester for whom the development will seem uncharacteristic and inappropriate.
The appropriate place for an anaerobic digester is as part of a farm complex where its elevations can be integrated with those of other farm buildings and its noise and odour merge with normal farm operations. This is the case at the Crouchlands Farm plant near Plaistow and prospectively at the Barfoots plant at Lagness.
Langmead Farms should take another look at their property portfolio and select a site offering comparable benefits.
Yours sincerely
Stephen Quigley
CDC Member for North Mundham and Oving Ward
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