Trewern council will object to Buttington incinerator proposal

Following a public meeting on Tuesday evening (May 11) when the area’s residents had their say on the proposals, the council held an extraordinary meeting to discuss the proposals.

In April, Broad Energy Wales, submitted the planning application for a “Energy Recovery Facility” which could produce enough electricity to power 20,000 homes.

The application is seen as a Development of National Significance (DNS).

Because of this the application will be dealt with by government planning inspectors rather than Powys County Council planners.

The 12.8 mega-watt incinerator development includes other infrastructure buildings including a 70-metre-high chimney stack and changes to the roads.

A consultation process allows Trewern Community Council to submit their views on the proposal.

Councillor Robin Breakwell said: “I’ve summarised what I’ve heard tonight, there’s 18 pretty compelling arguments against, I don’t think there’s anyone in favour of it.”

Councillor Stephen Novick, said: “It’s important to say we’ve had a meeting, the only other thing is the safety of the site, is this potentially a massive disaster waiting to happen?”

He pointed out that that there had been a blaze at a former recycling plant near Telford at the start of the month.

Councillor Sasha Hart said that the council should consider the opinion from Buttington-Trewern primary school parents.

Cllr Hart said: “The feedback from parents is paramount.

“It’s been difficult that we’ve not been able to protest or get involved, this timescale is so short, we have to encourage people to make their voices heard.”

Councillor Peter Davies said that he was worried that the incinerator would “put the mockers” on a housing development near the school.

Councillor Fiona Warburton, who chaired the meeting said: “The consensus is definitely that we are opposing, and we have a number of sub-headings under which we will write our response.”

“I’d like to thank everyone for their time and effort, this is such an important issue for all of us, it’s great to see how many people cared enough to give up their time this evening.

Cllr Warburton said she would work with the council’s clerk, Angela Evans to go through the responses and put together a written argument against the application.

She hoped to be able to circulate this to other councillors for feedback from them before a final version is sent to the Welsh Government planning inspectors before the May 24 deadline.

The main points of their objection are health issues, air quality due to unusual weather patterns in the valley, increased road pollution, proximity to school, and the strain on road network with narrow bridges in both directions.

They also object because of the negative impact on recycling, whether there is a need for the facility, the visual impact on the area, the damage to tourism and the pressure on local community during building phase with the influx of workers.