THE Environment Agency was found to have ignored its own good practice guide during a planning appeal over a proposed hydropower plant in Pershore on Tuesday.

The appeal, on behalf of Southeast Power Engineering’s (SEP) managing director David Dechambeau, was to examine the EA’s decision to award hydropower abstraction rights – the right to use river water to generate electricity – to landowner Charles Hudson.

Both SEP and Mr Hudson had submitted similar applications for schemes at the weir. The EA confirmed this was the first time it had to deal with two competing applications for the same stretch of river and only one could be successful.

SEP’s scheme used an Archimedes Screw 100KW generator, whereas Mr Hudson’s application was for a Kaplan Turbine which would generate 200-300KW of electricity.

Chris Bainger, a fisheries technical specialist for EA, favoured Mr Hudson’s application even though he said he preferred “the Archimedes Screw to be used where possible.”

John Aldrick, an environment and business manager for the EA, also revealed that the power generated through Mr Hudson’s application was at the maximum end of the EA’s good practice guide.

He said: “The Hudson application is certainly higher than we would recommend but was not determined to be harmful,” before admitting “The EA’s good practice guide has been violated a small amount by Mr Hudson’s application.”

The appeal was chaired by Alan Boyland, an inspector appointed by the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. He established that SEP’s application had been submitted first and was more environmentally friendly.

However, the inspector revealed he had no powers to quash the licence that had already been granted to Mr Hudson and the purpose of the appeal was to examine whether another licence should be granted to SEP.

Mr Dechambeau said: “If we cannot ‘make this right’ we need to establish whether it was done properly.”

A decision from the Planning Inspectorate is expected in six weeks.