Incinerator firm attacked over plans for New Year open day

But with North Yorkshire County Council and York Council still to vote on the plans over the next 10 days, critics have accused the company of being "shockingly presumptuous" and vowed a new wave of protests to block the scheme at the 11th hour.

Last week, the executives of both councils approved a 25-year deal with international waste management firm AmeyCespa – the biggest contract ever awarded in North Yorkshire – to build the incinerator at Allerton, between York and Harrogate.

The plans, which the company claims will pump 300m into North Yorkshire's economy and create 70 jobs, will now go before a full York Council meeting on Thursday and the county council on December 15.

The former chairman of North Yorkshire County Council, John Savage, who defected from the Tories to the Liberal Party after expressing deep misgivings over the plans, said: "This is shockingly presumptuous and they are acting as if it is a done deal when there are still two councils to vote yet.

"It is no exaggeration to say this is perhaps the biggest decision that my fellow councillors will take as members of the council and the company should bear that in mind rather than acting as if it has already been agreed.

"We are expecting quite a lot of protesters at both meetings and nothing has been set in stone ."

For the vote, the county council will allow 30 people into the public gallery and a further 80 in the grand meeting room where it will be televised.

But Coun Savage said a lot more protesters were expected to turn up.

The chairman of North Yorkshire Waste Action Group (NYWAG), Steve Wright, said: "It is extremely presumptuous of AmeyCespa to announce this now.

"The plans may have got voted through the executives but we are expecting that the full councils will show much greater consideration.

"We hope there will be widespread demonstrations at both meetings although obviously we are asking them to be respectful.

"Our mailing list is 2,000, while 10,000 have signed a petition and we have some real specialists on board as well.

"Nothing has been decided yet."

Campaigners say the councils should be looking at alternatives to incineration and that more emphasis should be placed on boosting recycling rates and other technologies such as anaerobic digestion, where micro-organisms break down biodegradable material to produce "green" energy.

Even some of those in favour of incineration, such as York Council's energy champion Christian Vassie, are strongly opposed to the proposals, claiming by building it in the countryside the councils are creating a "wasteful white elephant".

Announcing the open day on Friday, the project director for AmeyCespa Bill Jarvis, said: "We anticipate the facility will lead to an injection of at least 300m into the local economy over the next 25 years.

"Once we have planning permission we will require specialist construction support.

"At its peak during construction, we anticipate employing over 400 staff along with a number of specialist contractors.

"We now want to speak to North Yorkshire businesses to better understand how we can work together as our proposals progress into construction and the facility becomes operational. This could range from companies supplying catering to those already involved in the recycling or aggregates industry."

The company says a planning application is due to be submitted in early 2011 and if approved, the facility will become operational in 2015.