Comment for planning application SCC/0045/23SE

22 Hawthorn Road Haverhill CB9 9DL

Overall I object to the proposal submitted for the following reasons. 1) Traffic and safety: The proposed facility is located on the A1307 which is an accident listed road at the gateway to a fast-growing town; to add more burden to this road, of which heavy trucks will be travelling frequently does not provide mitigation to the risks associated with the road. At peak times the road is often heavily congested, and the bio site will make this congestion worse, especially relating to the free and safe flow of traffic in the area. 2) Public wellbeing and mental health: The facility is located to the west of the town, and with the prevailing winds (generally from the south west) would leave the town in the path of any odours from the facility. We know from various similar bio-facilities that this smell can be overwhelming and something to avoid at all costs; from travelling to other sites, the odour is noticeable, and to live in the path of this smell will affect so many elements of a healthy living, making even the most basic aspects of living, such as sitting in a garden, distinctly unpleasant. 3) Planning consents: I understand that the proposed land currently comes under the category of Agriculture, whereas the facility cannot be considered anything other than Industrial in nature, which would therefore require a change of use of land for the proposal to be actionable. In a time where agricultural land may become more critical, this would be a poor decision to approve a change of use 4) Local business and economic: With regards to the smell and the traffic congestion, it should be noted that the local businesses (besides farming), especially in the Epicentre, could be quickly dissuaded from occupying the local area; no business would like to bring clients into a facility so close to the odours likely from a bio-facility of the proposed facility. Further afield in the town, again this could impact the ability of the town to attract or retain businesses that would be affected by bad-smelling odours, and therefore jobs could be threatened. Other local businesses, including the Flying Shuttle Restaurant and the Montessori pre-school facility will be unduly affected by the bio site, leaving the local area as a less rounded environment. Although the bio-facility may not be releasing bad-smelling odours all the time, there is a point where any frequency becomes a problem for the local community - business or residential. It would be important to get guarantees in the planning proposal regarding odour metrics and associated punitive penalties for Acorn. With the Epicentre being c. 500 metres from the facility, odours could be quite intense and unpleasant. 5) Housing and residential population: If the facility smells to any great extent, and the prevailing winds blow this onto the local population (the closest residential roads are c. 900 metres away, with the bulk of a housing estate 1 km away), this will affect the happiness of the residents and also their likely wealth, as property values could easily be affected. The impact of the facility upon the happiness and wealth of the local residents requires addressing by the proposal, especially when other facilities are placed further away from population areas than this proposal is suggested. 6) Environmental: The proposed site is susceptible to flooding, and is in the upper limits of the government's flooding maps (https://www.gov.uk/check-long-term-flood-risk). It is a risk that regular flooding will eventually breach the facility's defences and result in contaminants affecting the Stour, and the subsequent environmental issues downstream. With global warming and the likelihood of increased water levels and extreme weather conditions, it is folly to build on land that will likely become more flooded. 7) General Safety: Biogas (methane) is highly flammable and explosive. With the start of the urban area of Haverhill being 500m from the facility, this is a concern for me and others. An explosion would affect the properties and businesses nearby, and a methane release, combined with the prevailing winds, would leave people exposed to this gas (and potentially carcinogens). Although Acorn will attempt to mitigate these risks, ultimately risks in the local area (traffic, explosive, environmental, etc.) will increase from the current state - not all risks can be totally mitigated. I would like to emphasise that all of these issues could be removed if a better location is found; being so close to urban areas and within a valley, next to a dangerously busy thoroughfare, makes the proposed site probably one of the least sensible option