MP seeks to allay fears over waste plant

The MP’s remarks came after Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham (BDR) Waste Partnership announced last Thursday that it had selected specialist waste organisation 3SE to build the plant at Bolton Road.

Mr Healey said: “I know and understand that the idea of a new waste facility sparks strong emotions in local residents. But we have to find new ways of dealing with the leftover household waste we send to landfill.

“Mechanical Biological Treatment, or MBT, plants are already working throughout the UK and Europe. The technologies are safe and the plant will have to meet the highest industry standards and regulations before it opens and while ever it is in operation.

“The scheme still needs planning permission and as part of any application I expect our local councils to drive a good deal, securing tough controls over lorries and getting the best deal on community benefit.

“The project will mean hundreds of jobs at construction phase and 65 permanent jobs when it is up and running. I want as many of these as possible to go to people who live nearby.”

A partnership between Shanks Group plc and SSE (Scottish and Southern Energy plc), 3SE plans to use MBT technology in Manvers to process ordinary household waste.

That waste will then be turned into a “solid recovered fuel” to be transported to a proposed multi-fuel plant next to the existing coal-fired power station at Ferrybridge near Pontefract, where it will be used to generate electricity.

Opposition to the scheme had come from many Manvers residents who said they feared the plant could cause harmful emissions and increase the amount of lorries using local roads.

The waste plant is set to be completed in 2015.