ONE of the UK's largest dairy foods suppliers today vowed to 'fight on' to defeat a £200 million waste incinerator scheme in Westbury.


Arla Foods UK says it is examining its options to overturn yesterday's decision by Wiltshire Council's strategic planning committee to give the go-ahead for a change of technology for the proposed energy from waste facility.


The committee voted 7-4 to grant planning permission to Land & Mineral Management, on behalf of Northacre Renewable Energy Ltd, for a change of technology from advanced thermal treatment to moving grate combustion which is cheaper to operate but leads to higher emissions.


A spokesman for Arla Foods said: "We are naturally disappointed by the decision of the committee.  


"The proposed incinerator may have a significant impact on our dairy, and we do not feel this has been fully addressed by the planning process so far. 


"We will now be considering what further steps we will wish to take to continue our opposition to this development."


The NREL plant would be built close to the Arla Foods dairy factory on the Northacre Industrial Estate in Westbury.


The factory employs 250 people and produces a range of dairy milk products, including Anchor butter, which are sold in supermarkets throughout the country.


The Arla spokesman said: "We are certainly going to fight on. This is not a done deal. The company will continue to fight against the proposal.


"There is a risk that when the NREL facility is built it will contaminate the clean air that Arla needs for its production processes."

"If the air and the products are contaminated, we will have to shut down production at a cost of up to £11,000 an hour."


Arla believes there is still opportunities for NREL's planning applications to be defeated - even though Wiltshire Council is unable to refuse on planning grounds alone.


The first is to persuade Robert Jenrick, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government to call in the plans and reverse Wiltshire Council's decisions.


The second is for the Environment Agency to refuse NREL an operating permit for the proposed facility and the third is to ask for a Judicial Review of the planning decisions.


Campaigners are pinning their hopes on the first and second options and are likely to ask for a judicial review if these fail.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, said: "We have received requests to call in this planning application. 

"No decisions have yet been made regarding whether or not to call in this application and it remains a matter for the council concerned at this time."