Bore Hill Farm

A redundant smallholding on the southern edge of Warminster in Wiltshire. The site consist of a farm house, disused outbuildings and 12 acres of hilly land. Bore Hill Farm is located between the busy A36 trunk road and the southern urban fringes of Warminster. The farm house has been renovated having been vacant for several years. The remaining delapidated buildings and a piece of hilly land next to the A36 will be redeveloped in Phase 1 to provide an innovative and integrated biogas plant (Bore Hill Farm Biodigester). In Phase 2 the run down farm buildings will be redeveloped into a group of sustainable business units to provide new employment opportunities for the local area. Planning consent was first granted in July 2010. A summary of the proposals is given below. More detailed information and documentation is provided via the Downloads and Links pages on this web site.

Green Energy Proposal

Malaby Martin and Malaby Biogas plan to install and operate the biogas plant (Bore Hill Farm Biodigester) using anaerobic digestion (AD) and Combined Heat and Power (CHP) technology to provide renewable heat and electricity to the farmstead redevelopment as well as exporting the excess power to the local electricity network. The plant will generate enough renewable electricity to for approximately 1,000 houses. The biogas plant will be sited on the land closest to the A36 to ensure minimal visual impact to the residential neighbourhood to the north. There will be minimal noise or odour effects on neighbours and it is designed to be as ecologically sensitive as possible to its surroundings. It will be established as an exemplar project to operate in conjunction with the redevelopment of the redundant farm buildings to use all the energy generated as efficienly as possible.

Farmstead Redevelopment
The traditional farmstead layout will be retained and redeveloped to provide modern, sustainable business units powered and heated by the biogas plant. Drawing on their previous experience in sympathetic redevelopment of rural sites will allow Malaby Martin to retain the original character of the complex - a central courtyard surrounded by farm style buildings fitted out to modern energy efficiency standards. This will provide new employment opportunities to Warminster and by using the existing good road connections there will be almost no additional traffic through the town centre. The exemplary nature of the redevelopment will rest on the efficient use of energy and the educational potential of the site in promoting sustainablilty and renewable power.

Design through Consultation

Malaby Martin's track record in collaborating with stakeholders such as officials, neighbours and project professionals at the early stages was recognised by the West Wiltshire planning department in being awarded their Design and Built In Award for its nearby redevelopment of West Farm Barns at Knook. Engaging in close consultation has ensured that an acceptable and cohesive scheme was planned and delivered. This approach was equally crucial in gaining planning consent for a truly exemplary scheme at Bore Hill Farm. Balancing diverse opinions, technical requirements and economic demands while maintaining an overarching vision requires consideration and commitment. The comprehensive consultation process during 2009 and 2010 has provided a greater insight into the demands that are placed upon the scheme. The input received led to significant changes in the design to provide reduced impact on the neighbours and significant ecologcical improvement to the poor habitat quality on the site.

Education and Community Benefit

The consultation process proved that a great deal of time had to be spent educating various groups about the importance of sustainability, renewable energy generation and anaerobic digestion in particular. This provided the opportunity to create a fully integrated educational resource on site which would benefit industry and the local community through collaborative work with schools and broader professional development. Having a truly unique resource on the door step has been of interest to local schools in incorparating environmental issues into their teaching. By providing a visitor centre on site and an integrated viewing space in the biogas plant, interested parties will visit Warminster to learn about this renewable project in the wider context of sustainability, energy security and global warming. Additionally, providing such an innovative facility will assist in the economic growth of Warminster by attracting visitors from further afield.