Councillors will meet on Wednesday (9th April to again consider an application to build a gas power station at Shap. The application was deferred at the Eden Area Planning Committee meeting held on the 25th February 2025 to allow the members of the committee time to consider further aspects of the application having heard presentations from the councils Planning Officer, objectors to the proposal, and the Agent on behalf of the Applicant.
The recommendation by planning officers is that the councillors on the committee should grant full planning permission subject to condition for the gas power station.
This application for full planning permission for the erection of a gas peaking plant with its associated infrastructure the primary defining purpose for which is providing standby support to the local electricity grid in service of the wider transition nationally to a low carbon future based on renewable energy generation.
The facility would burn gas to produce electricity as ‘stand-by’ provision, limits will be placed upon its operating hours through the Environmental Permitting scheme administered by the Environment Agency. Other similarly scaled gas peaking facilities operate an average of 1500 hours per annum over a 5- year period with a cap of 2250 hours in any one years.
The facility will be automated and remotely controlled including site security surveillance, only requiring attendance by personnel for scheduled monitoring and maintenance to ensure a reliable, effective/efficient and safe operation of the plant.
In response to the application Natural England said the “Authority should ensure your planning application decisions are
consistent with, and contribute to, achieving the UK’s net zero target. The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) is clear that ‘the planning system…should help to: shape places in ways that contribute to radical reductions in greenhouse gas emissions…’”
“Continued use of fossil fuels will contribute to climate change.”
“Prioritising renewable and low carbon energy development in a strategic and appropriate way will be an essential step towards retiring existing fossil fuel infrastructure and ending new proposals for such infrastructure”.
Shap Parish Council also objected to the plans Saying “The land proposed for the development is green field land and other industrial sites in the proximity may be an option for this type of development.”
“We have had representation from Shap Carbon Zero group who have provided much in the way of detailed analysis and strongly object to the application.”
The parish council added “There is no benefit to the community of Shap from this proposed installation, either from employment possibilities or the preservation of our environs. Existing detractors such as the existing quarries, the proximity of the M6 and the railway should not be used as a reason to expose the Parish to further installations which all reduce the wellbeing of the community.”
Over 40 individual letters of objection were submitted to the council including concerns over the gas power plant adding to local emissions from the Tata Steel plant at Shap.
In response the firm has said it has received a statement from Tata Steel UK that: “Lime production at Tata Steel Shap has been paused in line with the blast furnace closure and transition to low carbon steel making at the Tata Steel Port Talbot site. Production at Shap is due to be restarted from late 2027 in line with commissioning the new Arc furnace at Port Talbot. During this period the plant at Shap will be maintained and made ready for the restart.”
Councillors on the Eden Area planning committee will meet on Wednesday 9th April to consider the plans and officer recommendation to approve the application for the construction of a gas peeking power plant at Shap.
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