Village fuming over incinerator scheme
Outraged families living near the site of a planned incinerator in South Staffordshire claim they are becoming a dumping ground for industrial waste.
Outraged families living near the site of a planned incinerator in South Staffordshire claim they are becoming a dumping ground for industrial waste.
They have vowed to fight the latest plan, saying it would have a devastating impact on Essington. In recent months residents of the village near Wolverhampton have endured the siting of 28 phone masts, fought off plans by a skip firm to recycle nearly 40 tons of waste daily, and face disruption from the planned widening of the nearby M6 to four lanes.
At a packed meeting in the parish hall last night they declared: "Enough is enough."
Councillor David Clift, chairman of Essington Parish Council, said: "It is not wanted or needed in Essington. We've got to stop it."
Residents were concerned about the effects of an incinerator on the 460 pupils at St John's Primary School.
Chartered surveyor Nicholas Hayward, of Edward Avenue, said it would have a disastrous effect on house prices.
Mr Hayward, 51, a governor at St John's Primary, said: "The impact would be enormous but that is not my only objection. I have two children who go to the local school and I fear the impact of increased traffic and pollution.
"The village has become a dumping ground."
Retired transport manager John Perks, 68, and his wife Anne, 66, of Charles Avenue, regularly care for two grandchildren.
Mrs Perks said: "I think of the impact on the children.
"It's already chaos at the school gates in the morning and going-home time. It's a wonder how no-one has been killed, and they want to make it worse.
"Why should we keep having rubbish thrown at us?"
Mrs Perks also questioned the timing of the application.
"You wonder why it's come out now, in half-term, when the school grapevine cannot get news circulated quickly."
Black Country Reclamation, which owns the site in Hobnock Road, has permission to build a brick and tile making factory, but now wants to change the use to a biomass plant to generate electricity for the National Grid.
Residents have until March 16 to submit their views to South Staffordshire District Council.
