MORE than 20 residents of Westbury have already objected strongly to revised plans for a non-recyclable waste incinerator plant in the town.

Northacre Renewable Energy Ltd, owned by the Hills Group, has submitted revised plans to Wiltshire Council for its ‘advanced thermal treatment facility’, capable of handling 160,000 tonnes of waste a year.

The Swindon-based company says the revision represents a “significant improvement” on existing planning permission granted in 2015 to develop a facility on the Northacre Industrial Estate.

But Westbury residents continue to object strongly to the scheme, saying it will lead to an increase in toxic air pollution and traffic congestion.

Margaret Cavanna, of Westbury Gasification Action Group, said: “We will be opposing this plan as vigorously as the previous one and hope many others will also log objections on the WC website, ref. 18/09473/WCM.

“Reducing the building height by two metres, a smaller footprint and changing the cladding would hardly reduce the impact of this monstrous construction.

“It would be overly dominant and damage the outlook for thousands more residents than lived in Westbury at the time of the original plan.

“It would still be a 365-day 24/7 operation bringing 41 more HGVs a day, plus all the other vehicles to service the site.

“Some would travel through the town centre Air Quality Management zone where pollution is already well over the legal limits.

“Highly toxic emissions of gases and particulates from the chimney stack would be limited but not stopped.

“This is not a sustainable project as it would be a big net producer of CO2 contributing to climate change.”

“The benefit of 40 new jobs needs to be weighed against the fact that the waste industry is one of the most unsafe in the UK, with 14 fatalities and 5,000 injuries in the last year reported on (HSE).”

David Crosweller, of Bitham Mill, Westbury, said: “As far as I can see there is no fundamental difference as far as local residents are concerned.

“I object because the scheme has already been rejected by Swindon, so why is it being considered for Westbury?”

Mr Crosweller said residents have public health concerns about a deterioration in air quality and an increase in toxins and particulates being pumped into the atmosphere if plans for the plant at Northacre go ahead.

They are also concerned that the number of extra vehicle movements to bring in the proposed amount of waste for burning will add to already congested local roads.

He added: “The site is close to a new housing development and will cause greater noise and disturbance.”

Locals are also concerned about the visual impact of a 75-metre chimney which is part of the plans.

Mike Hill, chief executive of the Swindon-based Hills Group, said the facility would use the latest high efficiency technology.

He said the revisions also reflected the views of councillors who considered a previous application earlier this year.

The company has responded by reducing both the height and the footprint of the proposed buildings, and has changed the cladding to minimise landscape and visual impact.

Mr Hill added: “We are proposing an advanced, sustainable facility, which turns non-recyclable waste into valuable energy, providing a solution to waste challenges and economic benefits for people and businesses here.

“These proposals represent a significant improvement on the project that has already received planning consent.”

The proposed development would employ 40 people and use state-of-the-art gasification technology to generate electricity and heat from 41,500 tonnes of solid recovered fuel (SRF) and 118,500 tonnes of waste.

The company says the SRF and waste would otherwise be landfilled in Wiltshire or exported to mainland Europe as solid recovered fuel (SRF).

It estimates around 25.5MW of electricity a year would be generated, of which 4MW would be used on the site itself and 2MW by Hills’ adjacent Northacre Resource Recovery Centre.

The remaining 19MW could be exported to local users or go into the National Grid.

The power generated at the plant will be used to run it and Hill’s adjacent recycling facility, with spare power sold to local homes and the National Grid.

Comments on the revised plan need to be made to Wiltshire Council by November 16.