FAQs
What kind of planning application has Acorn made?
Acorn Bioenergy Ltd, together with James and Joyce Snell, have applied for a "‘Full Planning Permission (Major)’. It’s really important that we do everything we can to stop this being granted. Although the deadline for comments being made publicly on the planning application page is December 28th 2024, the decision is not due to be made on February 18th 2025. Even then, if planning permission is granted, a judicial review could be mounted on the grounds, for example, of the permission being granted unreasonably.
…It’s also worth bearing in mind that comments received after December 28th may still be considered. On the planning application page, it states that “In the case of an application that will need to be determined by one of the WNC Planning Committees, we will accept comments from the public up until the start of the committee meeting.”
We will keep fighting!!
Who are the decision makers?
West Northamptonshire Council’s South Planning Committee is responsible for deciding whether or not planning permission should be granted for the project. Currently on the committee are the following councillors:
Councillor Stephen Clarke (Chair): stephen.clarke@westnorthants.gov.uk
Councillor Ken Pritchard (Vice-Chair): ken.pritchard@westnorthants.gov.uk
Councillor Anthony S. Bagot-Webb: anthony.bagot-webb@westnorthants.gov.uk
Councillor Dermot Bambridge: dermot.bambridge@westnorthants.gov.uk
Councillor William Barter: william.barter@westnorthants.gov.uk
Councillor Maggie Clubley: maggie.clubley@westnorthants.gov.uk
Councillor Alison Eastwood: alison.eastwood@westnorthants.gov.uk
Councillor Sue Sharps: sue.sharps@westnorthants.gov.uk
Councillor Harry Barrett: harry.barrett@westnorthants.gov.uk
Councillor Raymond Connolly: raymond.connolly@westnorthants.gov.uk
Councillor Phil Bignell (Substitute): phil.bignell@westnorthants.gov.uk
Councillor Paul Clark (Substitute): paul.clark@westnorthants.gov.uk
Councillor Cecile Irving-Swift (Substitute): cecile.irving-swift@westnorthants.gov.uk
We encourage objections to be emailed to them! Meanwhile, the case officer for the application is Chris Burton, who may be reached on 01327 322108 and at planning@westnorthants.gov.uk: it is his role to make recommendations on the proposal to the planning committee.
Although he may begin assessing the application when it arrives, he cannot make a full assessment of the proposal until after the consultation period has ended, as he will take into account any representations made by consultation respondents. So it’s important we respond!
He will then complete a full evaluation of the application, assessing it against all relevant planning policies in the local development plan, before making his recommendations to the planning committee that planning permission is either granted or refused.
Can I still object?
We encourage everyone to sign the petition we’ve created on Change.org. You can also email all the councillors directly, using the emails above - and we encourage everyone to do so! (It’s also worth bearing in mind that there are some issues the council’s planning committee are obliged to consider - and others they aren’t! You can see the full list here. For example, they will disregard any comment relating to house prices and private views being impacted.)
What happens if planning permission is granted?
We hope it won’t come to that, but if it does, the next step is legal action. We would have 6 weeks from the decision date to lodge a judicial review claim. So be it!
What can I do to help?
We are creating a number of fliers, banners and posters to distribute round local villages - please do get in touch if you would like to help with this!
If there’s anything we’ve missed or that is unclear, please do let us know and we’ll try to resolve the issue as soon as we can.