The pipe will go from the Peak District past Buxton, Macclesfield, Chester, Ellesmere Port and up through the Wirral
The pipe will go from the Peak District past Buxton, Macclesfield, Chester, Ellesmere Port and up through the Wirral
Wirral people gathered in their hundreds yesterday, Sunday (March 8), as they rallied against a scheme they fear will turn the coast into a building site. One campaigner, Jo Wood, said: “They have no idea what the Wirral is capable of.”
Peak Cluster is hoping to run a pipe from the Peak District through Wirral to the Irish Sea as part of a roughly £5bn carbon capture storage project. This project is aimed at tackling greenhouse gas emissions contributing towards climate change.
The project would take emissions from four cement and lime producers and store it underground in depleted Morecambe gas fields. Plans are in their early stages with £60m of private and public funding committed, but they still need approval.
Peak Cluster says the pipe is expected to last 40 years but the storage in Morecambe could take 300 years to fill. Peak Cluster is also only monitoring the project for 20 years at least and there are also plans to import carbon dioxide emissions into Ellesmere Port and Merseyside from across the world.
The project dates back to 2023 when it was announced as a “world-first project to create net-zero cement” with the Conservative government at the time setting out a vision to invest more money in carbon capture projects. As far back as this, documents suggested the pipeline would be going through the Wirral.
However it was not until earlier this year as letters were sent out to 110,000 homes across Wirral, alarm bells started ringing. A rough route had been set out as well as plans for a major compression facility to be built on two possible sites near Moreton or Meols.
In weeks, people started rallying against the plans. A Facebook group has 9,000 members and a parliamentary petition has reached more than 16,600 signatures but the UK Government said it has no plans to stop projects moving forward.
This reaction many believe took Peak Cluster by surprise as people descended on one Hoylake meeting, described as chaotic. Jules Brookshaw, who was there, said: “We were told to go, that we may as well go home because they did not know how long this was going to go on for. We said no.”
Now a formal campaign group, Action Against CCS (AAC), has been set up. The campaigners, who stressed the need to tackle man-made climate change and carbon emissions, argue the project is “a knee-jerk reaction” and the billions that could be spent would be more effective elsewhere.
AAC, made up of people living across Wirral, said huge numbers of people “are feeling very uneasy about the unproven net gains of carbon capture storage and the drastic environmental damage that the project will cause”. Now Labour councillors are picking up their call ahead of an emergency March 9 debate.
A spokesperson for the group added: “Presented under vote-pleasing tick boxes of ‘job creation’ and ‘environmental progress’ the residents of Wirral have a right to be fully educated about the potential devastating impact of an exhaust pipe being created, not only just for the UK, but primed to process chemical waste from Europe and beyond.”
Jo Wood who lives in Moreton near where the four to five storey compression facility could be built. This is set to come with a 50 metre stack across a site that may be as big as seven and a half football pitches.
She said: “We do not want it. Can’t you go back to square one as this isn’t happening here? It doesn’t matter how technical you are. We didn’t want it in the first place.”
Jo told the LDRS: “This isn’t just something little. This isn’t just sticking a water pipe in. This is massive and it’s going to have long term consequences.”
The group is pulling in civil engineers and scientists to those working in health and safety, finance, and legal fields. They are questioning many things about the project from what the compression facility would look like to why options like low-emission concrete producers Material Evolution in Wrexham or Carbon8 which can turn carbon dioxide into bricks have not been considered.
Wirral West MP Matthew Patrick and Wallasey MP Angela Eagle have also come under fire for their responses to the backlash. Charlotte Smith said: “I do not care about which party they represent. They are elected members of Parliament. They are there to represent residents and local businesses.”
However Labour councillors have been praised for calling the debate in particular. Laura Beveridge said: “Speaking against your own party shows strength. I genuinely have faith in the councillors.”
While not ruling out the project altogether, Mr Patrick said Peak Cluster has failed to win community support, adding: “I don’t agree with those that deny climate change – we have a duty to tackle it, but that doesn’t give these projects a blank cheque.”
Ms Eagle said: “The potential for high paid, high skilled jobs locally is promising, but the project must take into account the preferences of Wallasey residents. I have told Peak Cluster I am currently unhappy with its outreach effort, and that this project must incorporate local opinions and expertise as it continues to take shape.”
In response, a spokesperson for Peak Cluster said: “The UK urgently needs more sustainable ways to produce the essential materials we rely on every day. Peak Cluster will help secure a long-term domestic supply of cement.”
They added: “Over recent weeks, we have met thousands of people and run 20 online and in‑person events across the proposed route. We are grateful to everyone who took part and shared their views.
“Our wider consultation area was designed to reach people who live, work, travel through or visit areas surrounding the route, as well as those who have an interest but may not be directly affected at this stage. As the project progresses and we refine our proposals, we will build a clearer understanding of who may be impacted and will continue to keep all groups informed.”
Peak Cluster promised to provide more information on the compression facility proposed for Meols or Moreton but did not say how a recent meeting with councillors went. The spokesperson said: “We remain committed to listening to and working with communities on the Wirral throughout the project’s development.
“We tailored the size and format of the consultation events based on learning from and attendance levels at infrastructure similar projects in the region over the past five years. We welcome the increased level of engagement from residents along the Wirral and recognise that additional opportunities for them to hear about the project and express their opinions are necessary.”
The spokesperson for the company said while alternative cement production did exist and there were other ways of storing carbon, they added: “It is a very long and complex process to establish the confidence in the levels of safety, strength and durability required from structural materials that are the foundation of vital infrastructure, and to produce these at a scale that is comparable to today’s cement production.”
In response to concerns around environmental impact, the spokesperson said: “Once construction is complete, land along the route will be reinstated to its previous use, including agriculture where possible. Tracks, drystone walls, fencing and hedgerows will be restored.
“As with other major utilities, an easement will be required, meaning that new buildings and certain deep rooting tree species cannot be placed directly above the pipeline.”
