THE Ince Marshes Incinerator and Waste Recovery Park is to be built by 2012 after receiving Government backing.

The £225m application is for a 95MW incinerator which will burn 650,000 tonnes of waste per year.

The plans for the resource recovery park, on 127 hectares of land, include new rail links, improvements to the Manchester Ship Canal and road access from Station Road, Ince, as well as about 31 hectares for ‘ecological mitigation’ for birds, water voles and other animals.

MPs, councillors and campaign groups backed by The Chronicle’s We Say No campaign say they are shocked and stunned by the Department of Energy and Climate Change’s decision to back the plan.

Following the six-week inquiry at Forest Hills Hotel in April last year – and following September’s approval of another incinerator at Ineos Chlor, Runcorn, just two miles away – many hoped the inspector would put an end to the project.

Campaign group Residents Against Incineration (RAIN), Cheshire West and Chester Council and homeowners haven’t given up the fight yet.

Eddisbury MP and Shadow Health Minister Stephen O’Brien said: “I am absolutely disgusted that the Government has simply swept aside the genuine and serious concerns of residents, representatives and our councils by giving the go-ahead for this massive unwanted incinerator.

“This is an affront to local democracy, but it comes as no surprise from a Government that wants to legislate to snuff out the voice of local people when objecting to incinerators, wind turbines, power stations, motorways and other large projects.

“Why does this Government think it is acceptable for Cheshire to become the dumping ground for incinerators and the burning of thousands of tonnes of waste from outside the county?”

Weaver Vale MP Mike Hall, who attended the public inquiry, said: “I am extremely disappointed by this decision.

“I firmly believe there were very strong grounds for refusing this application.

“Ince Marshes is a Greenfield site which has been in agricultural use for many years. This is a very open green space in an already heavily developed industrial area. It is therefore a very significant part of our local environment.

“The 100-metre chimney stack of the incinerator, the size of two Olympic swimming pools stood end to end, will be visible for miles around. This will certainly have a detrimental impact on the visual amenity of north Cheshire.

“The decision discounts the existing congestion on the A56 and M56.

“I will be speaking to members of RAIN to get their reaction to the decision and to what they want to do next.”

Professor John Dearden, an expert in medical chemistry who spoke on behalf of RAIN at the inquiry, said: “Harold Macmillan once said ‘consultation is telling the other side what you are going to do’, and I think there is some truth in that.

“We are very, very disappointed and we can’t understand it. Peel were claiming they were going to take waste from Manchester, Warrington, and Cheshire. It would appear they aren’t getting any. Manchester has ties with Ineos Chlor, so has Cheshire and Merseyside and Warrington are doing their own thing. You have to ask where the waste is coming from.

Dr Elizabeth Agnew, a GP at the Helsby and Elton practice, said: “I just think it is beyond belief that they can put up a second incinerator in an area that has such high levels of pollution.

“This area of the North West has very high numbers of cancer and heart conditions and pollution may well be one of the risk factors for these conditions.”

Cheshire West and Chester council is considering legal action.

Spokesman Ian Callister said: “The council will be studying the Government’s report in detail over the next few days. All of this will be considered.”

Council leader Mike Jones said: “We are dismayed and disappointed that Government has chosen to ignore concerns about the development’s potential effects on communities and the environment.

“The council will now want to work closely with the developer to protect the interests of residents, the local environment Šand the sustainability of a transport system tested by the influx of traffic from various parts of the country.”

Myles Kitcher, director of Peel Environmental, said: “We are pleased with the decision to grant consent for the Ince resource recovery park. It provides a significant opportunity for the North West to be at the forefront of the UK’s low carbon industrial strategy and to benefit from inward investment and a range of new jobs.

“We also recognise that capturing such opportunities brings the responsibility to work with and address the concerns of local communities. We are committed to working with local people to ensure that proposals are undertaken in an open and transparent manner.”