Nick Timothy — the MP for West Suffolk — is celebrating along with other residents who stood up to make their voices heard in the years-long campaign to stop the Acorn bio-digestion plant from being approved at Spring Grove Farm.
Local residents are rejoicing after the application was rejected by the Development and Regulation Committee at Suffolk County Council on Thursday 19 June.
The news came just over a week after a planning officer recommended that the application be turned down, noting the applicant had failed to demonstrate ‘that the merits of the proposal outweigh the principal land use policies that also protect the intrinsic character and beauty of the countryside’.
The planning officer also stated in this report that the impact from the development on highways and landscape and visual impact is ‘unacceptable’.
Commenting, the County Councillor for Haverhill Cangle — Joe Mason — said: “I’m delighted the Planning Committee at Suffolk County Council listened to local voices and stood firmly against this inappropriate development. Residents, businesses, and parish councils were united in their concerns. This industrial-scale facility had no place near homes, the preschool or our vital gateway into Haverhill. Today’s decision is a victory for common sense and community representation.
“The refusal reflects a clear breach of planning policies and a genuine risk to our environment. This was never a strategic fit for our area — it offered no local benefit while threatening future business growth and safety. Haverhill is growing, but that growth must be responsible and in keeping with our communities. I commend the committee for standing by the officer’s recommendation. This sends a strong message that speculative development should not exploit planning processes at the cost of the nearby community.”
Commenting, Mr Timothy, who lives near Haverhill, said: “The community deserves a moment of celebration after the rejection of this proposal — which was clearly wrong for our area. Muck Off Acorn and the many residents successfully protected our community by organising meetings and petitions and encouraging residents to send submission after submission to the council. Their unflinching grassroots campaign to show why the proposal was not appropriate has been totally vindicated.”
Mr Timothy continued: “As I said in my own submissions to the County Council, had this proposal been accepted it would have damaged the local environment, increased the risk of flooding and created an eyesore in a beautiful piece of countryside which is also a valuable community asset.
“It would also have harmed residents’ quality of life considerably by contaminating the air, made traffic on the A1307 much worse, and damaged investment into our area. There are so many families living in the area, and the EpiCentre is a brilliant hub for business innovation, while there is a number of other businesses locally, that would also have been damaged. Everyone is rightly rejoicing following this resounding victory.”
