Derbyshire council backs Reform UK plans to oppose Peak Cluster carbon capture scheme

Peak Cluster, which is a collaboration between cement and lime producers in Derbyshire and Staffordshire, aims to oversee a project that will capture carbon dioxide from four cement and lime producers across sites in Buxton and the Hope Valley, in Derbyshire, and near Cauldon, in Staffordshire, with an underground pipeline.

But Reform UK Derbyshire County Council Leader Cllr Alan Graves has co-signed a letter with Reform UK’s Staffordshire County Council Leader Cllr Martin Murray and Reform UK Deputy Leader Richard Tice to private sector backers of the Peak Cluster scheme warning that if their party gets into Government it will will not grant the project planning consent.

They fear the proposed route for the scheme will damage the countryside and Green Belt land and interfere with wildlife sites and that the scheme will leave taxpayers paying around £30m via the National Wealth Fund while claiming this figure could greatly increase before the scheme’s completion.

The letter stated: “On the national and the local level Reform UK will do everything in our power to oppose this Net Zero scam. We will fight every step of the way to stop Peak Cluster.”

It added: “This proposed route will cut through great swathes of greenbelt land, desecrating the countryside. The route will also interfere with wildlife sites and sites of Special Scientific Interest such as North Wirral Foreshore.”

Peak Cluster’s proposed pipeline scheme, which is in its pre-application stage, aims to take CO2 from the connecting cement and lime plants and quarries to the proposed Morecambe Net Zero carbon storage site beneath the Irish Sea after passing through Derbyshire, Staffordshire, Cheshire, and Merseyside.

Proposed work plants in the scheme include: Buxton Lime’s Tunstead lime plant, at Tunstead Quarry, off Waterswallows Rd, in Buxton; Breedon’s Hope cement plant, at Pindale Road, in the Hope Valley; Tarmac’s Tunstead cement plant, at Waterswallows Road, Tunstead House, in Buxton; and Holcim’s Cauldon plant between Cauldon and Waterhouses villages in Staffordshire.

Reform UK has pledged that if it gets into power it would block all planning applications for the Peak Cluster Carbon Capture and Storage scheme.

The letter added: “If the Energy Secretary grants the scheme a Development Consent Order, local councils, including two led by Reform UK, will have no power to object to any of this.

“Perhaps if this was a genuinely vital project to the UK economy this would be an acceptable trade-off; it’s the Government’s role to make those difficult decisions in the national interest.

“But Peak Cluster only exists to try and meet the mad Net Zero targets brought in under the Conservatives. These are killing off British Industry and have given us the highest industrial energy prices in the developed world.

“Astonishingly, the UK taxpayer is being asked to stump up an initial £28.6 million of funding via the National Wealth Fund for what is yet another Net Zero vanity project. No doubt this figure will balloon astronomically before the project’s completion. Under Reform UK, not a penny of public money will be permitted to go towards Peak Cluster.”

Derbyshire County Council previously recorded its opposition to the Peak Cluster scheme at a council meeting in March over safety concerns while agreeing to support the county’s quarries and cement industry to secure significant Government funding to reduce emissions at source.

The Reform UK letter argued that it is ‘highly likely’ there will be a General Election and a new Government before any construction commences and that a Reform UK Government will not feel compelled to deliver ‘pointless Net Zero schemes agreed to by this Labour Government’ and it will withdraw all public backing for the project.

Peak Cluster has stated the project aims to secure the future of Britain’s cement and lime industries while safeguarding and creating jobs and ensuring a reliable, ‘homemade’ supply of essential materials.

It says the scheme will use carbon capture technology to lock away carbon dioxide emitted at the four plants which will help secure the future for 40per cent of the nation’s cement and lime industries.

Spirit Energy’s Morecambe Net Zero project, which plans to transform gas fields in the Irish Sea into carbon dioxide storage sites, and Peak Cluster are expected to work together to safeguard and create 13,000 jobs by 2050, according to Peak Cluster, with around 1,500 jobs created across the East Midlands and North West during construction.

Peak Cluster has argued that cement production is responsible for 7.5per cent of global CO2 emissions but it claims its plans will prevent over three million tonnes of CO2 from entering the atmosphere each year while strengthening the industry’s resilience and opening up new opportunities for growth.

According to Planning Inspectorate documents, the proposed pipeline corridor is to be 300 metres wide and 121 miles long, but this would eventually be narrowed down to 100 metres in width to allow for adjustments while the actual pipes would be around a metre wide.

Peak Cluster Chairperson David Parkin has said gas and liquids have been transported using pipelines for over 100 years in the UK and the practice is robustly regulated and the UK has a global reputation for safety in this field.

Pipeline design, maintenance and monitoring will also follow regulated safety measures, according to Mr Parkin, including pipelines with heavy walls in areas of high population and surveys will be undertaken regularly and leak detection technology is being explored.

He said: “The events of this summer have provided a stark reminder that climate change is not a problem for the future. It is here today.

“The UK has experienced its hottest summer on record, alongside severe drought and wildfires. The Met Office is clear that extreme weather and the associated consequences on our daily lives – including our health, food prices and water availability will become more frequent as our climate changes.

“The UK, along with the rest of the world, has to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, and needs to take bold action across every sector of the economy.

“We must secure the UK’s supply of British-made cement and lime – essential materials to build homes and infrastructure as well as cleaning our water and improving our soils. The UK’s cement and lime production can only bedecarbonised through capturing, and locking away the unavoidable carbon emissions.

“Cancelling Peak Cluster would put a vital British industry at greater risk and leave us vulnerable to a dependency on imported cement and lime. We believe the right response to the challenges facing the UK is to invest in our own industry, right here in Britain, not walk away from it.”

The project, which is expected to take three years to build across four counties, is to be decided nationally, with councils merely acting as consultees alongside residents, interest groups and businesses.

Once the proposals are finalised, Peak Cluster aims to submit a Development Consent Order application in 2027 for Government approval.

The Labour Government has agreed to award £28.6m towards the estimated £59.6m project with the remaining funding for the scheme to come from private firms, according to the Planning Inspectorate.

But the Government’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero stated the Peak Cluster project is being developed privately by Peak Cluster Ltd, alongside its industry partners.

A Department for Energy Security and Net Zero spokesperson said: “Carbon capture, usage and storage is vital for Britain’s clean energy future and will support thousands of jobs across the country.”