LAWYERS will urge a planning inspector to reject proposals to build an animal-waste plant.
The public inquiry into the Sproston scheme ends tomorrow (Thursday), when lawyers for Gary Cooper and Sons and Vale Royal Borough Council will spell out their closing arguments to Government inspector John Greenwood.
Hanza Soren, acting on behalf of Vale Royal, will urge the inspector to uphold the council's original decision to throw out the plans, which sparked uproar among residents, who fear the impact of smells, heavy traffic and possible contamination.
Gary Cooper and Sons hopes to open the plant to help farmers meet strict guidelines introduced in 2000 banning the on-farm burial of dead livestock.
Dead animals would be taken to the facility and checked over by vets to ascertain the cause of death. The carcasses would then be transported to plants in Warrington, Widnes or Wrexham to be disposed of.
The development will also include space for skinning bays and a hide room. Once skinned and salted, hides will be sold to tanneries, providing an additional source of income to the firm. It will create five jobs.
The building at the centre of the plans is currently empty and stands on the border of Congleton and Vale Royal. Congleton Borough Council, Sproston Parish Council, Brereton Parish Council, the Council for the Protection of Rural England and Cranage Parish Council all opposed the application.
Councillors on Vale Royal's planning committee went against the recommendation of their officers when they vetoed the proposals last year.
A spokesman for Gary Cooper and Sons said: 'This is only a modest facility, but it has the backing of local veterinary surgeons, who recognise the importance of such a facility in the locality.
'This facility should not be treated as a threat to the local community.'
The inquiry, originally scheduled for one day, has run to three and ends tomorrow (Thursday) at Wyvern House, Winsford.
