A CAMPAIGN to fight a planning application to build a controversial type of power generation plant near Beith is gathering momentum.

Residents of Gateside say an anaerobic digester proposed for Hill o’ Beith Farm will have a negative impact on the area.

Anaerobic digesters use organic plant waste to produce gas that when burned can generate electricity and by-products which can be used as fertiliser.

Proposals for new plants are frequently met with fierce opposition due to fears over odours and noise, however, their supporters say they are a form of renewable energy that contribute to reducing carbon emissions.

A public meeting was held in Gateside Village Hall on Monday night attended by around 150 people and chaired by MSP Kenneth Gibson.

Hill o’ Beith Farm is owned by Gordon Thomson who lives in Ireland.

Mr Thomson did not attend the meeting but he was represented by Jim Campbell from SAC Consulting who are handling the planning application.

Issues raised included the potential risks involved in the production of the biogas and potential contamination of watercourses.

Some residents were concerned about the plant’s proximity to the New Road petrol station on the A737.

Mr Campbell spoke briefly about the application and explained the biogas process that he understood would be involved at Hill o’ Beith.

He said he was unaware that during the past year there had been no crop produced at Hill o’ Beith which could have been used to feed the digester.

Questioned by local residents he admitted that there had been no traffic impact assessment carried out, but he felt this could be done quite quickly if required by the planning authorities.

He also agreed that there was no environmental impact study carried out prior to submitting the planning application.

Furthermore, he did acknowledge that the objective for the application was purely on a business case with no direct benefit accruing to the community.

Mr Campbell explained that if the application is successful the operating company would receive payments for 20 years by feeding electricity into the national grid.

One member of the audience had looked at the size of the plant and the amount of materials which would be required to feed it.

He explained that if the plant was given the green light he estimated there would be some 2,600 traffic movements of 18 tons per movement into Hill o’ Beith from a sister farm in the Galston area.

It was felt that this would have a significant impact on traffic travelling through Gateside village and many considered that the village was ‘already under siege’ from juggernauts travelling to Balgray whisky bond and forestry traffic heading for the Dundonald papermill.

There would also be significant return traffic removing waste from the digester for return to Galston to be spread on fields and it, too, would pass through the village.

The case against the siting of this plant was put strongly by Guy and Heather Tulloh who highlighted issues around the lack of clarity in the planning application ‘which was full of holes and unanswered questions which even SEPPA were unable to clarify.’ They said that there were no dimensions of the buildings on the application and there was grave concern that the applicant had made no effort to consult the local community prior to submitting the application which only became known to the general community in the past two weeks.

The overall feeling of the locals was that this was an application which was totally inappropriate for a site between a village and a small town with a petrol station and two schools nearby.