More money to be spent on new biochar plant

An extra £1.3m will be spent on a biochar scheme in a Shropshire market town.

Shropshire Council's planning application for the pyrolysis plant on Coder Road business park was approved in January.

At a full council meeting on Thursday, members were asked to set aside more money to complete the development, with the total budget increased from £2m to £3.3m.

Fifty-three councillors backed the increase, with 15 against and three abstaining.

The Liberal Democrat-run authority said the increase was due to several reasons, including issues with preparation work for the site, increased construction and machinery costs, and "additional demand for external technical expertise".

The new plant, which used to be home to an anaerobic digester, will process biochar, a form of charcoal.

The renewable energy and biochar produced can be sold for many uses in agriculture, construction and industry.

A paper delivered to council said that the project would return more than £466,000 within six years. The full £3.3m would be repaired by the 20th year of operation.

Councillor Dawn Hussemann, opposition leader for Reform UK, said members had not been given "sufficient information" to make a decision.

"If I walked into a bank with what I have been given and asked them to decide whether to lend me £1.3m on top of the £2m already agreed, I'd be chased out of their offices," she said.

"We are in a very precarious financial position, as we keep being reminded by the new administration.

"Well in my world, you don't borrow money to go on holiday if you can't pay your rent."

Roger Evans, the Lib Dem portfolio holder for finance, said: "I have criticised this council for many years of not investing to save."

"This is a good investment. It pays for itself within six years, and we're getting hundreds of thousands of pounds during that time.

"This council needs to invest, whether it's borrowed or using its own capital, as long as there is a profit in it. This shows there is."

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