Grundon denies it will build factory on incinerator site

Waste firm says new legislation could mean £1m funding a year for West Berkshire if plan is approved

The waste firm behind the plan for an incinerator in Chieveley has moved to allay fears that it also wants to build a breeze-block factory on the site.

At a meeting of Hermitage Parish Council last Tuesday, January 31, residents claimed that Grundon would eventually build a factory at the Old Kiln Quarry, next to junction 13 of the M4, leading to the industrialisation of the north of Newbury.

However, a spokeswoman for Nex Communications, Naomi Crassweller, representing Grun-don, said: “It is not and never has been Grundon's intention to use the site as a breeze-block factory. We have always made it clear that the bottom ash produced at the facility would likely be recycled and used to form aggregate, but this would not take place on site. Any applications in the area would be assessed independently and on their own merit,” she added.

Campaigners also fear that the 75-metre incinerator stack, will be visible in Chieveley, Curridge and Hermitage, but Grundon said that it has undertaken an extensive impact assessment from various viewpoints in the area.

Miss Crassweller added: “Following public comment at Grundon's original public exhibition, it reduced the stack height by 10 metres and main building height by two metres. Given that the site has been worked as a sand quarry, the building would actually sit within the worked land, some 10 metres down.

“We advise people to take the opportunity to view the visual impact assessment that forms part of the application documentation and see for themselves how the proposal would look in situ. Natural screening and topography means that for some local residents, especially those in neighbouring Curridge, would not be able to see the main building and would see very little if any of the top of the stack.”

Grundon, which has made a commitment to a £125,000 a year community fund to support local causes, says new legislation could see the Government reward West Berkshire Council with up to £1m a year for the life of the waste scheme.

The firm – which also argued that the proposal for the incinerator does not have to adhere to the Hermitage village design plan as the site is in the parish of Chieveley, – said it hoped a decision would be made on the application by the summer.

If approved, the incinerator would process up to 250,000 tonnes of waste per year, generating enough power for approximately 30,000 homes, and would be situated within the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.