BUILDING a controversial incinerator on Deeside would have an “unacceptable impact” on quality of life, it is claimed.
The warning has been issued by Connah’s Quay councillor Bernie Attridge, who is calling on Flintshire Council to scrutinise the environmental, safety and traffic congestion risks of such a project.
No decision on the type of technology or a site to service the facility – earmarked to deal with residual waste from Flintshire, Denbighshire, Anglesey, Gwynedd and Conwy – has yet been made.
But an outline business case presented by North Wales Residual Waste Treatment Project (NWRWTP) bosses gave Deeside Industrial Estate as an example of a possible location for an incinerator to handle waste which cannot be recycled.
Cllr Attridge has proposed a notice of motion to be heard at Tuesday’s full meeting of Flintshire Council.
It states: “Deeside is already the location for a large number of heavy industrial power and other plants.
“Communities are concerned that the addition of a new waste processing facility of the scale being considered will have unacceptable impact on the quality of life of the people of Deeside.
“The area already suffers from heavy traffic congestion and any inward transport and transfer of waste from across the region and elsewhere would add to these problems.”
Cllr Attridge is urging Flintshire Council, as the lead authority in the NWRWTP, to examine the risks of any treatment plant or incinerator on Deeside and pledge that no decision will be made to favour Deeside as a location unless there are full assurances to those parties affected.
In November scores of concerned residents – including many from Wirral, Neston and Ellesmere Port – attended a public meeting at Connah’s Quay Civic Hall to have their say on the plans.
Hundreds of people from Connah’s Quay, Shotton and Sealand have also signed a petition against any potential incinerator.