Greenham councilor centre of "fake flyer" furore
A GREENHAM parish councillor has been bombarded with phone calls after an anonymous flyer was distributed throughout Newbury, linking a power company’s plans for a generator with harmful pollutants at a local school.
The flyer entitled ‘Pollution hits local schools’ alleges that a genuine proposal for a generator, to be sited near the recently approved biomass plant at Greenham Business Park, would cause pollution to blow over to nearby St Bartholomew’s School.
It cites unnamed “experts” and “Green groups” as being worried about the impact PeakGen Power’s generator would have on wildlife and raises concerns over the possibility of diesel spillages.
Greenham councillor Billy Drummond, who is listed on the flyer as a contact for local residents, said that since being made aware of it last week he has received hundreds of calls and emails from frightened residents.
He said: “I would like to make it clear I had no knowledge of the leaflet prior to August 21,when I saw it for the first time.
“I think this leaflet is irresponsible because it is anonymous and it has caused unfounded anxiety for a lot of people.
“I have had more than 150 phone calls and emails from residents who have been frightened by the misleading image in the leaflet of factory chimneys belching out smoke, which bears no relation to what is actually being proposed.”
The genuine application put forward by PeakGen Power is for a 1,800 sq m generator compound, to include a combination of 10 diesel and gas-fuelled generator sets, which will run for between 100 and 200 hours a year.
Plans, if approved, would also include a solar panel installation to provide power for on-site equipment and access would be via the A339 and private roads through the business park.
Applicant PeakGen states in its plans: “The plant will be used to supply electricity to the national grid, but only at times of very high system demand, or when unexpectedly there is insufficient ‘traditional’ generation available.”
The parish council objected to the plans in July and it will next be determined by West Berkshire Council. The plans can be viewed on the West Berkshire Council planning portal under the reference number 15/01514/FUL.
