A MINI power station proposed for a farm on the edge of Swindon has won the approval of council planning officers.

But the plans, put forward by Abingdon-based Conrad Energy, will have to be passed by members of Swindon Borough Council’s planning committee.

The company wants to install a generator capable of producing 7.5 megawatts of electricity from the mains gas supply. It says it will be placed on an unused portion of Wood Farm on land off Swindon Road to the east of Wroughton.

The power generated would be sent to the national grid at times of high demand.

But the application was ‘called in' to the committee by ward borough councillor Cathy Martyn, who had also organised a petition against the scheme.

She said: “The petition was only up for about 10 days and it was more of a vox pop to show what people were thinking. It got about 80 signatures against the scheme, which shows the strength of feeling.

“From my point of view this plan is not sustainable, it is not environmentally friendly and it is in the wrong place.

“I shall be asking councillors on the committee to refuse permission.”

Sarah Bowden, who lives next door, wrote to the council about the noise the plant might produce.

She said: “We asked our neighbours, who own the farming business, to visit a similar installation at Wallingford on an industrial estate. When the gas turbines started up the noise from several hundred metres away was oppressive and clearly heard above the noise from the industrial estates businesses and the adjacent main road.”

Prospect Hospice, just south of the site, also wrote with concerns about noise and air pollution affecting its residents.

One of the owners of the land, Ed Gosling of Berkeley Farm Dairy, which keeps cattle at Wood Farm, said that being allowed to rent out some land to the power generating firm would mean the rest of the site could continue as a dairy farm.

A letter to council planners says: “This is a tremendous opportunity for us as it makes use of an area of land that is currently redundant and cannot be used for farming purposes. It can provide a reliable income to supplement the volatile income from dairy farming.”

The letter adds: “We hope to have the security of the rental income to allow continued investment in our farming and milk-processing enterprises.”

The planning committee will meet at 6pm on Tuesday at the civic offices at Euclid Street.