CONTROVERSIAL plans to build a waste incinerator on the doorstep of the world-renowned Bentley car factory in Crewe have moved a step closer.
Cheshire County Council approved outline plans for a thermal treatment plant at Pym's Lane council depot, opposite the luxury car factory, on Thursday. The public will now be consulted on the scheme.
The authority claims waste plants are needed to tackle the escalating mountains of waste created by Cheshire residents.
But Cllr David Brickhill, who is a member of the borough and county councils, wants people to fight the scheme.
He said: 'Incinerators expel toxic gases and they should be kept away from people. We need to take every step to make sure this happens.
'Crewe and Nantwich Borough Council is deeply opposed to an incinerator in Pym's Lane because of the Bentley Factory and the heavily populated area it is in.'
It is one of three sites in Crewe earmarked to build a waste treatment plant. The authority is also considering a second site in Pym's Lane, at its junction with Middlewich Road, and one at Clayhanger Hall Farm, next to the Haslington Bypass.
Outline plans for a waste treatment plant at Moss Lane, Sandbach, are also in the pipeline.
The county council already pays out nearly £6m a year in Landfill Tax, and that bill is to rise by almost £1.2m a year if strict targets to reduce rubbish are not met.
Members voted by 26 to 17 - with two abstentions - in favour of the county's Replacement Waste Local Plan as a basis for consultation.
The plan suggests 23 preferred sites.
Environment executive member Cllr Andrew Needham stressed: 'Any proposals to develop a waste management facility at a given site will require planning permission.'
