A farm which specialises in growing gluten free oats has been given the go-ahead to install an extra biomass boiler which will enable it to convert more waste material into power.

The move, by Glebe Farm Foods, Glebe Farm, Kings Ripton, will also lead to a slight reduction in the number of heavy goods vehicles using the site because more of the waste will be used there.

Huntingdonshire District Council has approved plans by the farm - which claims to supply more than a million servings of porridge oats every day - to install the extra biomass boiler and associated equipment and to retain two existing boilers.

In its planning document, the company said: “Glebe Farm is one of the few farms in the country growing and processing gluten free oats into porridge flakes, oat flour and oat drink. “Glebe Farm uses waste oat product (chaff) as a source for biomass energy that is used in the production process. In this way more of the oat plant that is grown on the farm is used in the production process. The fuel generated provides heating and hot water for the farm.”

The planners’ report said Glebe House was a Grade II listed building which stood 120 metres from the nearest biomass unit and was screened by farm buildings. It was also a further 60 metres from Kings Ripton’s conservation area.

“Given the distances to heritage assets, the proposed development is not considered to impact the settings of the designated heritage assets,” the report said.
Occupants of 19 neighbouring properties were notified about the proposed development but no objections were received by the council.

The report said there would be a “small drop” in goods vehicles using the farm, with a reduction of between one and two movements per week as more material was used as fuel on site and less was sold as animal food.
The report said the development was in line with national and local planning policies.

Glebe Farm’s website says it is the only farm in the UK growing and processing gluten free oats into porridge flakes, oat flour, and oat drink, creating a “world class” product by steaming and rolling oats on the gluten free site.

It planted the first crop of oats in 2008, with gluten-free products helping with health problems such as Coeliac disease and gluten intolerance.