Fuming! Outrage at plans for waste incinerator near Burghfield, going before West Berkshire Council next week

Plans for a huge waste incinerator near Burghfield go before West Berkshire Council next week (Wednesday, August 24).

If passed, it will burn 150,000 tonnes of waste from the Reading Quarry landfill.

But the proposal has already caused outrage from residents in nearby Reading.

They say the site should be put in the middle of West Berkshire – not near them.

“If it is to serve West Berkshire it should be built in the middle of West Berkshire, so those causing the need understand the consequences,” said Carolyn Stewart.

“It's a cheek to site it right next to Reading on the very fringe of West Berkshire so that the entitled of Newbury and villages get all the benefits but none of the problems.”

There are already dozens of objections to West Berkshire Council's Eastern Area Planning Committee from local residents – with some claiming the applicant should reimburse them for the loss of value on their homes, with a 20 per cent uplift in value at the pre-planning approval stage.

Others are furious that they were not communicated with by West Berkshire Council saying the are "shocked and horrified" by a huge application on their doorsteps.

Those living a few hundred metres away from the proposed site fear that air pollutants from the incinerator will contaminate their home grown food and cause cancer.

Energy from burning West Berkshire's rubbish will be turned into electricity for the National Grid.

The proposal from J Mould claims the incinerator – which they are calling an energy recovery centre – will complement existing waste and recycling in West Berkshire.

The application site is on land next to Reading Quarry at Berry’s Lane and is in West Berkshire Council’s administrative area.

It is 64,000 metres squared and will be 25m high and 78m wide, with two 50m stacks. The application claims the site will employ 50 people.

The facility will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week.