Committeeto considerincineratorproposals

CAMPAIGNERS will soon discover the fate of controversial plans for a waste incinerator on the northern boundary of Chesterfield.

Members of Derbyshire County Council’s planning committee will next month examine plans by waste firm Cyclamax for the gasification plant at Sheepbridge.

The plans have been strongly opposed by the Chesterfield Against Incineration action group and both Chesterfield Borough Council and North East Derbyshire District Council have also objected to the application.

They claim that the proposed site is too close to Chesterfield and surrounding villages and say emissions from the plant could be harmful to the thousands of people living close to the site.

Opponents say that the proposed plant is unproven technology and that more than 350 projected vehicle movements, including heavy lorries each day to and from the plant, will cause congestion and danger on local roads which are unsuitable for so much traffic.

Cylamax says the Sheepbridge Resource Park would be a “sustainable business that produces renewable energy, increases recycling and reduces landfill”.

As well as the incinerator, the company also plans to develop a Sustainable Employment Park with roughly 60,000 square feet of industrial space.

The first phase of the development would be the creation of the waste plant, which would create 41 jobs. After that is built, work on the Sustainable Employment Park, would begin.

Businesses at the employment park would use green power from the incinerator. Cyclamax also says at least 60 additional jobs would be created at the park’s industrial units.

The planning meeting will be held at the county council’s Matlock headquarters on Tuesday, October 19.