BOROUGH leaders are resisting plans to build a chemical waste centre in Ellesmere Port.

They have formally objected to plans for a powdered alkaline waste treatment plant, saying it would be too near residents and harm investment in the area.

But the borough council is only a consultee on the scheme, with the final say going to Cheshire County Council.

Since last year the county has been drawing up its draft replacement Waste Local Plan and has earmarked 11 sites across Cheshire for waste plants and incinerators - five of them in Ellesmere Port.

They have already been named as the Associated Octel plant in Oil Sites Road; Bridges Road; North Road opposite Vauxhall Motors; and two borough council-owned spots in New Bridge Road.

The scheme was submitted by United Utilities (UU) Ind Ltd which, according to a council report, wants to turn the existing, but unused, drum-crusher building at the Cheshire Waste Management Centre in Oil Sites Road into a powdered alkaline waste treatment plant.

It would work in association with the site's waste management centre.

The new plant would consist of two large silos, three mixing vessels, an acid storage tank, a sodium sulphide tank and a filter press.

But at a recent planning meeting, borough councillors voted to voice their objections to the scheme.

Council case officer Mike Stelfox said: 'This proposal doesn't comply with our policies contained in the borough's Local Plan.

'The site is within the M53/ Shropshire Union Canal Corridor, where high standards of design, materials, external appearance, layout and landscaping are required to secure a net environmental improvement.

'We are trying to attract new investment opportunities to the M53 corridor.

'Therefore, proposals to encourage further capacity for the storage and treatment of waste on this site, which is close to the town and existing residents, should be resisted.'