New waste plans anger Tockwith and Wilstrop Parish Council (From York Press)

New waste plans anger Tockwith and Wilstrop Parish Council

10:05am Saturday 30th May 2009 in News By Haydn Lewis, haydn.lewis@thepress.co.uk

VILLAGERS have hit out at new plans for a controversial waste incinerator at a meeting in Tockwith.

Members of Tockwith and Wilstrop Parish Council held an extraordinary meeting and voted to submit their objections to the new proposal by BCB to construct a waste incinerator just outside the village.

At a packed meeting in the local church, councillors and local residents expressed concern about the health risks of burning thousands of tons of waste, some of it hazardous, less than 500 metres from nearby housing, and less than 1,000 metres from the local primary school.

Waste disposal company BCB Environmental Management has submitted its revised application to North Yorkshire County Council for permission to build the incinerator at Marston Business Park, Tockwith.

The company said the proposed development, which will create 18 new jobs when the facility is operational, will use state-of-the-art advanced thermal treatment (ATT) to process up to 60,000 tonnes of waste each year.

The process will recover enough energy to generate an estimated ten megawatts of electricity – sufficient to power about 10,000 homes.

But 25 per cent of that waste would constitute hazardous materials. A spokesman for BCB said this included substances like paint and ink.

Apart from the hazardous waste, the incinerator would burn household rubbish.

Villagers living in Tockwith have campaigned vociferously against the plans, which have led to them being amended and resubmitted in their current form, but they are still strongly opposed to the revised scheme.

Coun Clive Billenness said: “Bilton and Bickerton Parish Council were represented at the meeting and have also pledged support to both Tockwith Parish Council and the Tockwith Residents’ Association in engaging consultants to examine all aspects of the application.

“Parish councillors also urged local residents and businesses, as well as people in the surrounding area, to lodge their own objections with North Yorkshire County Council who will deal with the application as soon as possible.”

BCB managing director Phil Boardman said: “Our original application has been significantly refined and the company is now confident that it has the best possible waste management solution to help to divert waste from landfill.

“We have invested heavily in the newest technology to help to provide a cleaner, greener way of dealing with the rising levels of waste.

“Landfill is no longer sustainable in terms of waste management and will cost council taxpayers millions of pounds in the future if the problem is not addressed.”