Hydro at gunthorpe

angling times page 2, apparently licences have been granted by the ea to aid the building of a hydro electric plant at gunthorpe weir although full planning permision has yet to be granted by newark and sherwood district council this is yet another show of how low anglers come on the list of the ea priorities,
is this the thin end of the wedge?

the blanker said:

angling times page 2, apparently licences have been granted by the ea to aid the building of a hydro electric plant at gunthorpe weir although full planning permision has yet to be granted by newark and sherwood district council this is yet another show of how low anglers come on the list of the ea priorities,
is this the thin end of the wedge?

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I'm surprised that all the Trent wiers dont have generating equipment installed -- I've been saying for years that one put in at Cromwell would light up Newark, and today with all the rain we've had ,Nottingham also.
As to wether I would like to see it happen-- er-- not sure, but on the whole I suppose I would'nt

All i can see is if it is a success it could be installed on all the Trent weirs, obviously choosing Gunthorpe for ease of access and in a fairly remote area not to disrupt too mny feathers. I dont know all the details, but wouldnt it possibly enhance the under water environment? I think it might..

You can bet that Dr Alan Butterworth of the Angling Trust will be fighting it tooth and nail.



"Alan retired from the EA in July 2009 and became a voluntary advisor to the Angling Trust on hydropower, which he views as a serious threat to our river fisheries."

the blanker said:

angling times page 2, apparently licences have been granted by the ea to aid the building of a hydro electric plant at gunthorpe weir although full planning permision has yet to be granted by newark and sherwood district council this is yet another show of how low anglers come on the list of the ea priorities,
is this the thin end of the wedge?

Click to expand...

This is strange since salmon now run the Trent.
Presumably someone will have noticed the fact that salmon ascend and young salmon (smolts) descend the river and have to be able to negotiate their way around whatever system is put in place?

IM

It will make it a less natural more controlled river. It will not react as quickly to in influx of water (that is below the adapted weir) - above there maybe a back pressure of water which has been artificially held back resulting in extreme swelling and breach.

Keep an eye open for the planning application. Plan your attack in advance and swamp the planning process with letters of complaint. Fill every damn chair in the planning meeting. Work out, from figures that should be supplied by the hydro company just how much electricity will be generated. Somewhere there must be details already available. Anyone have a link to scheme details?
Many of the smaller hydro schemes only make financial sense because of incentives available to green electricity. The reality is of course that the tax payer subsidises power that is actually costing more to produce than other more conventional schemes. This hydro is larger scale than others I have looked at. It could even be competitive.

Not sure Shaun, that you can call the existing weir "natural".

Update: http://www.nsdc.info/eplanning/default.aspx?sid=1&sindex=1&id=2&refno=10/00323/FUL

and http://www.smallhydro.co.uk/7.html

shaunfox said:

It will make it a less natural more controlled river

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Shaun- I know where you're coming from but the river has been controlled for centuries-- Flood banks, the wiers which makes the river a series of "pounds" , bridges , fish passes (many not fit for purpose- eg- Cromwell- power stations , etx etx, its a big list as in reality it's a working river unlike many, some would say another would make little or no differance but like you the less there are the better.

I think you'll find the deadline for objections has passed. Try searching in Google, all the plans are available to inspect online.

The plans incorporate a fish pass in the centre of the weir.

There is no fish pass on the weir downstream (Hazelford). Nor is there one on the weir above (Stoke Bardolph).

Folk are worried about the impact on a few barbel swims immediately below the weir but they're being blinded by the obvious. The plan is to raise the weir sill by two feet which will affect a whole lot of swims upstream. For example those barbel pegs in the Nelson Field will be proper old tackle graveyards when the drop-off is ten yards out from the bank.

The limited fishing at Bardolph will disappear as the gravel hump will be permanently submerged one imagines.

85% of the river's flow will pass through the hydro turbines and then returned to the river. Could create an extremely good gravel gulley below it and also clean up a whole area of gravel for spawning.

Difficult to argue against green energy. Especially when the locals who live in Gunthorpe are in favour of the scheme.

Be interesting to see how the future unfolds, won't it?

Bob Roberts
Bob Roberts - Fishing information for the complete angler

It will, we cant keep leaching our leccy of the french, so its this sort of thing or nuclear - any or all of which should have been sorted 10 years back at least.

Bob Roberts said:

I think you'll find the deadline for objections has passed. Try searching in Google, all the plans are available to inspect online.

Click to expand...

Bob unless a planning determination has been made by the Local Planning Authority/committee, then you can make an objection right up until the Planning Committee put their bums down in the chairs to make a decision.
The date for submissions is an advisory one for the expedience of the Planning Officers so they can write a report of recommendations for the committee.

This article may help people to object to this proposal
http://www.barbel.co.uk/articlefr.htm Then go into technical articles and Guide to objecting to planning applications

It can be advantageous to objectors to place their objections as late as possible for possible legal challenges if the decision goes against those objecting

This proposal will have to have an environmental impact assessment associated with it. And that is where the weakness in the application will be if what you say about uping the weir by 2 ft is correct.

Just because it says it green energy doesn't always mean it won't have a serious impact on what are called "Material Conditions" under planning law.

EG Biofuel plants (green energy) omit to air CO2. CO2 omissions and other atmospheric pollutants through the burning of wood, all of which are Material Conditions under Planning Law.