Victory for people power as controversial Fife biomass proposal rejected

The decision to throw out the controversial planning application follows an unprecedented wave of public objection to plans for a 19.8MW Biomass plant that would have been sited on land owned by Fife Council west of Whitworth Road in the Southfield area of Glenrothes

The decision has been hailed as a huge victory for the people of Glenrothes who stood up to fight the proposal.

“This is great news, residents have stood their ground, voiced their concerns and have been listened to, it’s a huge victory for them and for common sense,” said Peter Scobie, chairman of Pitteuchar, Stenton & Finglassie Community Council.

“There were lots of flaws in the proposal, the impact on the community would have been catastrophic.”

More than a hundred residents packed into a public meeting earlier this month to vent their anger of the controversial planning application, and a campaign group was quickly set up which urged residents to lodge objections to the plans.

A public consultation attracted a huge response with 280 formal objections in just one week.

In a letter to Atmos Consulting, the firm handling the Sainc Energy Limited application, planners rejected the application because of concerns over the negative impact on air quality, the environment, neighbouring businesses, and also the future threat to flooding in the area.