Families 'let down' by Huntington waste plant approval

They continued battling the proposals for the site in Cocksparrow Lane Huntington after the plans were passed by Staffordshire County Council in the hope that Secretary of Stare Eric Pickles would overturn the decision.

But they now admit they have reached the 'end of the line' as Mr Pickles approves the development.

Councillor Jeff Ashley, who represents Huntington on South Staffordshire Council, said: "My only reaction to this can be sadness and disappointment.

"Originally when the county council passed the plans everyone was quite deflated because so much effort had been put in but then it went to the Government and hopes were raised again.

"Bearing in mind the Government's attitude to recycling I don't think anyone could be surprised by this but our argument has always been that it is being built in the wrong place.

"It will cause problems throughout the village with vehicles going past homes and a school.

"This really is the end of the line now though and there is nothing more that anyone can do."

A petition containing the names of 300 villagers was presented to Parliament by South Staffordshire MP Gavin Williamson last year amid fears homes would be devalued and that they would suffer from smells from the transport and storage of animal slurry and food waste.

Another with 550 names was also handed in to the council.

Residents also believe the digester would be an eyesore in the green belt area.

Mr Williamson had branded the plant a 'monstrosity' and previously pledged to do everything he could to get it thrown out.

Huntington Residents' Association founder, Mark Hough, who has lived in Huntington's Stafford Road for more than 10 years, said: "They've really let us down.

"A site like this next to a brand new school is ludicrous."

Dr Emily Cox, chairman of protest group Huntington Village Champions, said she fears residents lives' will be blighted by bad odours.

"Historically this village has only just recovered from its mining past, now residents are having to contend with the prospect of an anaerobic digester and biomass plant," she said.

"This is a seriously deprived area, the last thing people want is something that adds to the pollution. We feel this is the wrong place, particularly with a school just 500 metres down the road."

A statement from Staffordshire County Council says: "The application was later referred to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government c/o the National Planning Casework Unit as it is a departure from green belt policy.

"The Secretary of State has now confirmed that the County Council can proceed to issue the permission. An amended legal agreement is now being prepared and must be completed before the planning permission can be issued."

In September, placard-waving protesters opposed to the waste plant plans greeted a delegation of councillors when they visited the controversial site.

The 200ft-high plant will be built on the site of the former Littleton Colliery, which was the main colliery in the village. It became one of the largest in the Midlands and the last colliery to remain in the Cannock Chase area. It closed in 1994. Bosses at HE Humphries Ltd, the firm behind the plans, previously said the plant would only be a third of the size of the Biffa waste plant in nearby Heath Hayes and it will create 12 new jobs.

It comes after it emerged this week that an incinerator between Cannock and Wolverhampton could be operational within days - nearly a month later than first planned. The £122 million facility in Four Ashes off the A449 Stafford Road, between Cannock and Wolverhampton, started accepting rubbish in November.

It will eventually generate power for more than 30,000.

The site will take rubbish that cannot be recycled from Staffordshire, Walsall, Sandwell and Worcestershire. Waste will be transported to the site and burnt in a process that produces steam, which drives turbines for electricity.