Grundon to hold incinerator information day
Waste firm to answer public questions ahead of incinerator application submission
GRUNDON is to hold an information day on Thursday before it submits an application to build a powerful waste incinerator in Chieveley capable of burning hundreds of thousands of tonnes of rubbish a year.
Director of estates for the firm Bob Nicholson said that due to the amount of misinformation circling the purpose of the event, held at the Donnington Valley Hotel in Newbury between 3pm and 7.30pm, he was to put straight the facts surrounding the controversial proposal, which is to be lodged with West Berkshire Council “imminently”.
The design of the build has undergone several changes since Newburytoday.co.uk's sister publication, the Newbury Weekly News exclusively broke the story in January.
The original plans were for a 350,000 tonne capacity Energy from Waste facility at Old Kiln Quarry in Chieveley, next to Junction 13 of the M4, a site which sits inside the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
With the new household waste facility opening at Padworth, Grundon has now halted proposals to burn black bin rubbish primarily, and the new facility, with a 250,000 tonnes per annum capacity, would predominantly deal with residual commercial and industrial waste arising within Berkshire.
Grundon has said the facility would still be capable of treating leftover municipal waste should the Padworth plant ever reach capacity.
After nine months of working towards a scheme it believes is appropriate for the setting, the director of estates at Grundon, Bob Nicholson, said he was pleased that the application was ready to be handed in, but understood there were still many questions to be asked.
“We look forward to welcoming the local community to the information day and our specialists will be on hand to answer any questions they may have,” he said.
“We want to reassure people that there is a need for these proposals and they are safe, being monitored 24 hours a day by the Environment Agency."
A full visual impact assessment has been undertaken and attendees on the day and those that view the planning application on the council's website will be able to see what the proposals would look like from a variety of viewpoints.
Throughout the planning process a free-phone information line 0800 169 8766 will remain operational and updates will be posted on the Grundon website www.grundon.com.
