Hundreds sign petition against food digester plans

More than 400 people have signed a petition against plans to build a food waste digestor in a village.

The facility, earmarked for Hindlip near Worcester, would turn food waste into energy for businesses and homes, but people living nearby say they are concerned about smell and noise from the plant.

"You build facilities like this on farmland, you build them out in the country where they're not going to have an impact on residents," said district councillor Dan Birch.

The company behind the plans, Stenergy, insisted the plant would "operate cleanly and without odour emissions".

Mr Birch said he remained unconvinced - and rejected accusations of nimbyism.

"Come down and have a look," he said. "Come and see for yourself whether you would live next to [this], because I think the answer would be no."

Stenergy submitted a revised application to build an anaerobic digester plant in October.

It said the facility would process up to 48,500 tonnes of commercial and domestic food waste each year to produce energy.

Ben Serrano, who lives in the village, told BBC Hereford & Worcester he had been to such plants in the past.

"I was warned to bring a spare change of clothes... because of the impact to your clothing because of the stench," he said. "There is a place for these sites, but not a few metres away.

"I'm all for clean energy, but in the right place."

Karen Gleeson moved to the village years ago, drawn by the rural location with views of the Malvern Hills.

But now, she said, she struggles to sleep at night with worry over plans to build a food waste digestor in the village.

"[It's] the air pollution, the smell, the noise," she explained.

Ms Gleeson said she had considered selling her home, but felt it would be "immoral" to do so knowing about the plans.

Stenergy's chief executive officer, Keith Warburton, said the firm was committed to addressing people's concerns "with transparency".

"Anaerobic digestion is a proven technology that is already used successfully in over 100 facilities across the UK," he said.

"Concerns about noise, pollution, and odour are key components detailed within our environmental risk assessment and permitry and have been satisfactorily addressed in our plans."

Worcestershire County Council is due to make a decision on the plans in March.

Like all local authorities, it will be legally obliged to provide separate domestic food waste collections from March 2026.

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