WASTE chiefs say an independent report shows a controversial trial to compost municipal waste near a village in Selby district would have a minimal effect on the local environment.

But a leading local councillor dismissed the findings, calling the scheme "an unknown quantity".

Bosses at Yorwaste said the risk assessment report on the plans for a site near Thorpe Willoughby had been prepared by ADAS UK, a leading expert on composting.

And they said that after listening to local people, they had also submitted a number of amendments to their plan, to addressing all objections raised by members of the public. The company said the scientific and technical information it had prepared in response to residents' concerns "comprehensively demonstrated" that its plans would have "negligible impacts on the local environment".

This information would probably be submitted to North Yorkshire County Council by the end of the week, followed by a meeting between Yorwaste and Thorpe Willoughby Parish Council.

The ADAS report said while the odours associated with the former mushroom composting plant at the Gateforth Park site did cause nuisance, proposed modifications to the composting facility would mean the trials being carried out "with minimal effects on the local environment".

Additional measures that would be taken by Yorwaste include:

Ensuring that the entire process would take place within an enclosed environment, with air extracted through a bio-filter to prevent the release of particles and potential odours

Reducing the time the waste material was held in the reception building from the five days originally proposed down to 48 hours

Carrying out improvements to the waste reception building to ensure it was totally enclosed.

John Miller, Yorwaste's recycling and external affairs manager, said: "We can categorically state that the limited trial we are proposing bears no resemblance whatsoever to the previous operations at Gateforth Park, and that the historical problems associated with the site, such as odour, will not occur during the trial period.

"It is widely acknowledged that, as a nation, we have to reduce the amount of biodegradable municipal waste that goes to landfill and if this trial is successful, it will have long-term benefits for everyone."

But Malcolm Reid, chairman of Thorpe Willoughby Parish Council, said: "I don't think they can do what they say they are going to in this report. They haven't taken an environmental impact study, as requested by Selby District Council.

"The building isn't airtight. The ground has not got micro-silica in it, which prevents leakages seeping into the water table."

Mr Reid said the proposed Yorwaste plant was the first such "black bin" waste composting facility to be open in this country.

"It's an unknown quantity - and we don't want to be the pilot scheme," he said.

"This isn't like composting green garden waste, it's household waste. So there'll be nappies in there and dog excrement, and anything else that you would put in your black bin."

Updated: 09:23 Thursday, May 25, 2006