Wiltshire Council has given the go ahead for the controversial waste incinerator to be built in Westbury, despite fierce local opposition.
The council’s Strategic Planning Committee voted through the proposal on Tuesday which has brought anger and condemnation from local campaigners.
The decision flies in the face of the overwhelming opposition to the plans with critics saying the incinerator will be a serious risk to air quality and significantly increase the number of lorry journeys through the town.
The application was opposed by 18 local councils and Wiltshire Council received over 2,100 written objections to the scheme – more than any other planning application in its history.
Yet it was voted through by just seven councillors on the Strategic Planning Committee, none of them from Westbury.
Local MP Andrew Murrison spoke passionately against the scheme saying, “I represent the thousands of people who have objected to this horrible, carbon belching rubbish burner. I’m trying to think of another issue that has filled my Westbury mailbag as much as this one has.
“I’m appalled that we in Wiltshire, who have declared a climate emergency, would even be considering this.”
Northacre Renewable Energy Limited (NREL) are the firm behind the £200million bid. They already had planning permission to build a waste to energy gasification plant on the site but have now replaced this with the incinerator plans. The new plant would treat about 243,000 tonnes of residual waste a year and create 40 jobs and provide power for 54,000 homes, they say.
Local councillors, residents and campaigners spoke against the proposals at the planning meeting saying it conflicted with key Wiltshire Council policies and strategies, would see a large increase in HGVs trips through Westbury and have a serious impact on air quality.
There were also major concerns over the amount of CO2 the incinerator would generate, particularly as Wiltshire Council has declared a climate emergency.
But the councillors voted 7 to 4 in favour of the application.
Opponents, though, are vowing to fight on and saying all is not lost. Andrew Murrison told White Horse News he has asked for the decision to be looked into by the Secretary of State.
Mayor Sheila Kimmins says not to give up. “Our only hope now is going to lie with the Secretary of State,” she said. “We mustn’t give up. We will make sure that the Secretary of State hears the over 2,000 objections that this town has put forward. So please do not give up – yes, we feel very low today about the decision, but we will make sure that the Secretary of State hears Westbury loud and clear.”
The plant also needs the approval of the Environment Agency before it can operate.
