Plans for a gas plant near Wantage have been withdrawn after hundreds of objections and a damning report by the planning officer.

Acorn Bioenergy wanted to build an anaerobic digestion plant between Grove and the Hanneys but pulled the application just days before Vale of White Horse District Council Planning Committee were due to decide on the plans.

A spokeswoman said the company was reviewing its options for the application.

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The proposed plant, which would have been built to the west of the A338, would have converted agricultural waste – including pig slurry - into biomethane, which Acorn said would have met the heating demands of 7,600 UK homes.

Even if they had not been withdrawn, the plans would have faced an uphill battle to be approved by the planning committee, which was due to meet tonight (Wednesday, May 31), after planning officer Adrian Butler recommended they were refused.

He said HGV’s and tractors using the lane from the A338 would have a ‘significant impact on the living conditions of the existing residents.’

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He added the plant would have ‘significant adverse harm’ to the landscape and rural character of the area, and it would cause the loss of habitat for a population of great crested newts.

He also said there were details missing from the application.

While the plans were undergoing public consultation, hundreds of objections were lodged about the potential traffic, noise, and odour impacts of the plant.

This included objections from four parish councils – Grove, Charney Bassett, East Hanney and West Hanney – as well as Wantage Town Council and Oxfordshire County Council.

Charney Bassett Chair David Roberts said: “Not only are several roads leading into the village unsuitable for such vehicles, but the noise and disturbance from such traffic movements will be detrimental to local residents.”

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A statement from East Hanney Parish Council added: “This parish is in the path of the prevailing wind and will suffer all the noxious anti-social smells the proposers have admitted will be a regrettable cost for our residents”

West Hanney Parish Council’s statement claimed the plant would have “severe and lasting adverse impact on our rural community.”

A statement from Grove Parish Council said its residents were concerned over light pollution and odours, and its objection was supported by Wantage Town Council.

Shaun Forbes, a villager in West Hanney, said he had ‘huge concerns for the well-being and safety of all the residents’ because of the potential increased traffic.

Stephanie Garrard, who lives in East Hanney, added: “The site is the wrong location, both in terms of the challenging access but also being too close to quiet villages which do not have the right infrastructure in place to support the increased traffic and HGV transportation.”