Consultation starts on waste scheme

Officers from the Environment Agency will be answering questions at a drop-in session between 10am and 7pm on Friday at the Dunston Innovation Centre.

In May last year the agency received an application from Sheepbridge Resource Park Limited for a permit for a gasification plant for the thermal treatment of waste.

The plant will dispose of commercial and industrial waste – some of which is classified as hazardous – and recover energy to generate electricity.

Ian Foster from the agency said: "We will not issue an environmental permit for any industrial site if we consider it will cause significant pollution to the environment or harm human health."

The public consultation period closes on Friday, August 6.