Incinerator battle heats up ahead of meeting

Extra meeting of Chieveley Parish Council held tomorrow (Tuesday) for public to discuss incinerator plans

A LARGE public turnout is expected at an extra meeting of Chieveley Parish Council tomorrow (Tuesday) which has been called especially to discus the proposed incinerator.

The battle waged between waste firm Grundon and those opposing its plans heightened this week as both sides made moves to strengthen their positions.

The meeting, at 7.30pm in Chieveley Recreation Centre, will discuss the application labelled by protesters as “the most significant local development since the Newbury bypass” following its submission to West Berkshire Council in December, with an invitation to the public to come along and express their opinion.

The proposals outline a plant with 75 metre stacks and hubs capable of burning 350,000 tonnes of household and industrial waste, per year, at Old Kiln Quarry in Chieveley, near to Junction 13 of the M4, generating enough energy to power 50,000 homes.

The chairman of protest group West Berkshire Against the Grundon Incinerator (WBAGI), Simon Conington, welcomed Chieveley Parish Council's decision and urged the public to attend to put their views across.

A meeting in February held to discuss the formation of the protest group attracted over 300 people from across the district, and it is expected that the public turnout will again be generous.

The group has now begun posting 10,000 flyers through doors in villages right across West Berkshire with information on lodging objections as it steps up its campaign to fight off the development.

Central to the argument against the incinerator is the fact its intended location would be inside the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).

A spokesman for the AONB, Andrew Lord, has this week written a letter outlining how the AONB has the same legal status as a National Park, and that those ignoring guidance over its protection were “seeking to exploit and undermine that which our own generations before us have fought to achieve.”

“As the North Wessex Downs AONB therefore begins to celebrate its 40th birthday, it remains under considerable threat from development which would destroy its primary purpose for designation,” he said.

“Suitable locations do exist for this form of development, but not within protected landscapes that the Government consider to be of the highest quality.”

With political parties, environmental groups, residents, the MP for Newbury, Richard Benyon, and even campaigners from other areas of the UK raining flak down on Grundon from the day the Newbury Weekly News broke news of the Chieveley incinerator a year ago this month, the firm's director of estates, Bob Nicholson, stood up the defence and became the face of the project at several consultation days.

Since lodging the application it has been confirmed that Mr Nicholson has left Grundon to return to his family in the north.

A spokeswoman for Nex Communications, Naomi Crassweller, said: “Due to a fortuitous combination of happy family circumstances and a new career opportunity, Bob decided just prior to Christmas that this was the right time to return.

“Although Bob fronted the application, the Grundon Planning and Estates team has been closely involved in the application and will ensure continuity from the company. Richard Skehens (managing director) and Veronique Bensadou will now be leading on the project.”

For more information on how to lodge a view on the proposals online visit http://www.wbagi.org.