FAQ: The Site

  • Have any other alternative sites been considered?

    Other sites were considered early in the feasibility process, but the site was ultimately chosen because it has been previously granted planning permission for waste management purposes, including use as an Energy from Waste facility, as well as being allocated as a ‘Safeguarded Site’ for waste management purposes in the Joint Waste Plan (March 2012). In addition, the site is located within an existing industrial site with good transport links and close to local businesses that could receive power and heat from the plant.

  • What do local planning policies say about the selected site?

    The site is compliant with the Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham Joint Waste Plan, which sets out (or allocates) sites suitable for waste treatment including energy from waste, in industrial areas close to key settlements. Templeborough is one such allocated location, with excellent transport links, and industrial processes nearby that could make use of the heat so it fulfils key planning requirements.

  • What size would it be?

    The Renewable Energy Centre main building, containing the boiler room and RDF bunker, will be approximately 80m long and 57m wide, with the highest point of the roof 38m above ground level. There will be other structures and plant, which will generally be located adjacent to the main buildings.  The flue stack will measure 100m high.

    There will also be a Waste Pretreatment facility which will be 127m long by 41m wide narrowing to 34m wide and at its highest point would be 22m above ground level.  This building will also include the tipping hall and waste reception areas. 

  • What was the former use of the site?

    The site was previously the Templeborough steelworks, which changed hands a number of times from the original owners, Steel Peech and Tozer (Steelos) in 1883 to United Steel Companies, and British Steel before privatisation in the 1980s. The plant closed in November 1993. Since then, parts of the site have come back into use, notably the Magna Science Adventure Centre, which sets out the history of the location back to Roman times and also Sterecycle, which opened in 2008 and closed in 2012. The Sterecycle facility used a completely different technology to the one being proposed by Rolton Kilbride.  The area of site under consideration is now used as a temporary storage area and headquarters for roadworks in the area, as well as a car park and some grassland.

  • Where is the plant application sited?

    The site is on available land at the former Templeborough Steelworks, Sheffield Road, Templeborough, Rotherham S601DX.

  • Why has the Templeborough site been selected?

    In the Joint Waste Plan (2012) the site at Templeborough is allocated as a ‘Safeguarded Site’: an area of previously developed land located in an existing industrial area and large enough to accommodate the Renewable Energy Centre. The Joint Waste Plan makes provision for locations for waste management facilities, including energy from waste facilities, on sites that are within industrial land, on built up areas and that have been previously developed or allocated for employment. The Strategy sets out that strategic waste facilities should be sited close to the urban centres of Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham.

    This site means waste can be treated close to its origins, avoiding unnecessary transportation, and its position close to main roads and motorways means that waste can be transported easily to site. Templeborough is also close to industrial and commercial companies with potential to become customers for the heat or energy.