Hydro power plan needs more details (From Herald Series)
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Hydro power plan needs more details
7:00pm Monday 28th January 2013 in News
A COMMUNITY group has been told to provide more details about ambitious plans for a hydro-electric power plant on the Thames in Abingdon.
Abingdon Hydro was told by Vale of White Horse planning officers that its application would be rejected because there was insufficient detail.
The group’s engineering consultant, Peter Brett Associates of Reading, is now reworking the application for two Archimedes’ screws at Abingdon Weir, and hopes construction work can go ahead in 2014. It has been told to provide more detail about the construction process, including how much space the contractors would take up, access routes for machinery and materials, and footpath diversions.
The group, which was given a licence for the scheme by Natural England in May last year, was hoping to be up and running this year.
Secretary Richard Riggs, 69, said: “The delay means we will not get it built this year, which is disappointing, but it gives us more time to get it right.”
Following concerns from kayaking and canoe clubs about how they would be affected, Mr Riggs said the licence stipulated that the river must still be useable for recreation and it was planned to create a weir gate which canoeists would be able to operate themselves.
