The Gale Common Extraction Project
EP UK Investments Ltd (‘EPUKI’) is proposing to extract up to 1 million tonnes of ash per annum from the Gale Common Ash Disposal Site in North Yorkshire over a 25-year period. The ash is commonly known as Pulverised fuel Ash or ‘PFA’.
PFA is used as a recycled aggregate, which is a sustainable solution in the building products industry, the use of which is supported by local and national planning policy.
The Gale Common Site is located approximately 3 miles to the south-west of Eggborough Power Station, approximately 700 metres to the east of the village of Cridling Stubbs and immediately south of the M62 Motorway.
Who is EPUKI?
In addition to owning and operating the Gale Common Ash Disposal Site, EPUKI owns and operates several power station sites in the UK. These include Langage Power Station, a combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power plant near Plymouth in Devon; Lynemouth Power Station, a biomass fuelled power plant in Northumberland; and power generation assets in Northern Ireland. EPUKI also owns sites with consent for new CCGT power stations at Eggborough in North Yorkshire (part of the former coal-fired power station site) and at King’s Lynn in Norfolk.
The Planning Application
The planning application (reference C8/2019/0732/CPO) submitted by EPUKI seeking planning permission for the extraction of PFA from the Gale Common Site was validated by North Yorkshire County Council on 24th June 2019.
The planning application was considered at a meeting of North Yorkshire County Council’s Planning and Regulatory Functions Committee on 17th November 2020. At that meeting the Committee resolved to grant planning permission for the extraction of up to 1 million tonnes of PFA per annum from the Gale Common Site subject to planning conditions and the completion of a Section 106 agreement.
A video of the Flythrough of the Gale Common Site can be found below.