Acorn Bioenergy Ltd are going to apply for planning permission to construct and operate an anaerobic digestion plant on land currently occupied by Spring Grove Farm, owned by the Thurlow Estate and situated next to the A1307 just outside both Haverhill and Withersfield.

The huge 31 acre plant (that's about 10 of the Sainsburys Haverhill car parks) would be used to convert crops such as rye, oat, maize and grass sileage, straw, slurry and poultry litter into methane gas for heating and transport and produce fertiliser. The 5 fermentation tanks stand 16.5 metres high (equal to 4 double decker buses standing on top of each other) and 34 metres across in diameter each.

Acorn Bioenergy, the company making the application, is backed by Spanish venture capitalists. They have never built or operated a plant like this before. Remember this plant is generating methane, a highly FLAMMABLE gas!

The gas will be transported to Milton Keynes and feeds into the grid network - it does not stay or benefit anything locally. 

Whilst anaerobic digestion can be a good way to use waste to create biofuel, it needs to be done efficiently and responsibly. That means siting and operating plants on land that can’t be used for much else and avoiding negative impact on the local environment and the local population.

This is not what would happen here - we believe the site is too close to existing residential areas (only a few hundred metres from a densely populated housing estate), would significantly impact travel & traffic on an already problematic road network, and could negatively affect the local environment. 

70% of crops will come from outside of the local area and they will most likely be grown specifically for this purpose, therefore it is not necessarily using farming 'waste' at all. Currently, Thurlow Estate do not raise hens, keep cattle or grow maize/elephant grass so this operation doesn't support their current business profile. Actually, this operation is a massive commercial 'waste' recycling operation (which could eventually extend to handling food waste too), not a function of support to their current farming practice.

We need to show the strength of opposition to these plans as it will negatively impact everyone around it. Whether it be from the vile smells, air quality, flies, vermin, noise, visual impact on the landscape, increased HGV and gas tanker movements, possible pollution risks as the site frequently floods amongst many other factors. This will make it unbearable for anyone living near it, ultimately also negatively impacting the value and saleability of their home. 

We do not want this dumped on the doorstep of our homes and the town! Sign this petition to make your opposition known as silence is taken as consent. Acorn have now submitted their formal planning application so we need as many formal objections directly with the council as possible, this petition is to supplement those objections. 

Thank you for making your strength of feeling known! 

Recent update! Acorn have submitted their application which can be found here. 

More information is available via our campaign website www.muckoffacorn.co.uk and our Facebook page Muck Off Acorn