Meeting move in burner battle

Campaigners opposed to a £5 million biomass plant in south Shropshire are holding an emergency meeting tonight to discuss their next steps after the plans were approved.

The Bishop's Castle Group, which has been fighting the plans for two years, is holding a private meeting tonight to determine whether to carry with on its opposition.

Following an inquiry earlier this year, the planning inspectorate finally granted permission for the scheme on Friday.

The plant, fuelled by locally-sourced wood chips and wood-energy crops, would generate 2.5 mega-watts of electricity, enough to supply 2,500 houses in Bishop's Castle and surrounding villages.

Wood pellets would also be produced using heat from the plant to provide low carbon fuel for domestic and business premises.

Bishop's Castle Biomass Power Limited was granted approval to build and operate the plant at Crowgate Industrial Estate following an eight-day public inquiry, held in March and April.

But Karen Bavastock, chairman of the Bishop's Castle Group, said members were still determined to prevent the burner going ahead.

She said: "We can claim some minor victories in some of the conditions we helped to negotiate. However, there are still a number of concerning things in the report which we would like to challenge."