Bishop's Castle anti-biomass fight to continue

Campaigners opposing a £5 million biomass plant planned for a Shropshire town have vowed to carry on their fight in the wake of massive public opposition to the scheme.

The Bishop's Castle group is to hold a public meeting in the town to decide the way forward.

Last week Shropshire Council's cabinet upheld its decision to sell land at the town's business park for the incinerator.

More than 130 people travelled to Shirehall for the meeting, two weeks after a scrutiny committee called the decision in, following a meeting in Bishop's Castle attended by 300 people.

Bishop's Castle Group secretary Paula Middleton said no date had been set for the meeting but it was crucial to keep people engaged and look at ways to appeal the decision.

She said: "I have been inundated by people who are frustrated and really angry that the cabinet ignored popular opinion in the area.

"This is not democracy at work when councillors dictate what they say is good for the whole of Shropshire. How many people have to respond from a town this size, for their views to be taken into account?

"We are exploring the best way to proceed and will hold a public meeting very soon. We need to keep this in the public eye and work out how we can fight this decision."

Councillor Mike Owen, Shropshire Council cabinet member for economy and waste, said: "We fully appreciated the strength of feeling against the proposal and took into account all of the information and views, including those raised at the council's own scrutiny committee meeting and the outcome of the independent planning inquiry.

"We listened to a number of speakers both for and against, but we made the decision based on the overall benefits of the scheme.

"Sometimes the council has to take difficult decisions that are in the wider public interest but may not be popular with everyone."