Bristol City councillors have thrown out an application to build a controversial biofuel power plant in Avonmouth, after rejecting legal advice and planning officers’ reports.

At a heated meeting in the Council House this afternoon, members of the Development Control (North) Committee voted six to two against the plan submitted by W4B Bristol to build a ‘green’ energy plant to power the equivalent of 25,000 homes.

Despite hearing the view of planners and the council legal officer that a rejection of the plan could only take place if the environmental impact of the plant would materially affect Bristol, councillors joined the protesters who gathered for the meeting to argue that the impact on communities thousands of miles away should take precedence.

The decision will resonate across the UK, as similar plants have been proposed in other parts of the country in the fight to create green, sustainable energy production.

During the two-hour meeting, councillors heard from the chairman of W4B Bristol – Chris Slack – that the plant was essential if the UK was to meet its carbon reduction pledges.

He added that the plant would import just 1% of the fossil fuels currently brought into Avonmouth from overseas, and would create employment in the city – as well as maintaining Avonmouth as the South West’s most significant energy port.

W4B was backed up by the city’s planning officers who said that air pollution projections would fall within set guidelines and – crucially – that planning decisions could only be made on the impact that would be felt in Bristol.

The city’s legal chief Stephen McNamara said: “The committee have to follow the law… it is not up to us to break the law.”

The chairwoman of the committee, Cllr Barbara Lewis, went so far as to say that no-one on her committee liked the plan – but that the law tied their hands.

“No-one sitting ion this committee actually likes this application – but we have to decide based on the law,” she said. “Personally I can find no reason to refuse this application.”

And veteran Labour councillor Royston Griffey – a former planning lawyer – agreed, adding a rejection would be reversed by any appeal. “This is a very emotive issue. Words like consience, ethics, morals, issues are being used and naturally I am sympathetic to these. But none of these are material planning considerations,” he said.

“All we can do is deal  with applications on their merits as a matter of law. If we do turn this down on gut feelings, we will lose any appeal that the applicant will put forward and lose any judical review.”

But in an emotional, and often fiery, meeting, statements were made which argued that the impact on communities in Indonesia – where much of the raw material for the fuel would be grown – was a material consideration, considering the city’s aspirations and policies designed to make it a ‘green’ city.

Cllr Alex Woodman argued that the existing policy guidelines set out for the sustainability of the city clearly had to be taken into consideration.

“I don’t agree with the material considerations argument,” he said to cheers from the gallery. “The natural environment contains the whole world, not just Bristol. The council’s core strategy insists on sustainability and this has to take precedence.  The source of fuel is the key issue – and it won’t contribute to sustainability.”

Earlier, Cllr Simon Rayner turned up the heat on the debate, describing the plant as being built by “ruthless profiteers” who were “masquerading” behind environmental language.

During the meeting, one protester was forced to leave the room after constant heckling of the committee, while another walked out of the room after a verbal blast at the members.

However, after deciding that the concerns over the environmental impact of the production of the fuel – and its contradiction to the stated ‘green’ aims of the city in the Local Plan – councillors voted by a big majority to reject the application.

Paul Harrod, the Liberal Democrat prospective Parliamentary candidate for Bristol North West who joined a protest before the meeting, praised the decision.

“This is the right decision, not only for Bristol, but in the fight against unsustainable biofuel plants,” he said.

“There are a large number of palm-oil powerplants in the pipeline across the country.  Therefore this verdict will resonate across the UK.”

• To read more of Bristol24-7’s coverage of the issue, click the ‘Biofuel’ tag below

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