CAMPAIGNERS lobbying against a controversial waste processing plant have forced the firm involved to rethink its plans.
Biossence already has permission to build the 400,000- tonne plant in Wirral, but have asked to change its plans.
The company says it has changed how lorries will access the site in response to local residents’ concerns about traffic through Eastham, in south Wirral.
And, while previous plans were for two buildings, it has combined them into one 20,000 sq m structure.
That building will also be 3m lower and sit next to an enlarged nature reserve. Plans for a visitor centre have been shelved due to fears over safety.
But those who have fought the proposals say the changes do little to allay their fears. More than 670 letters objecting to the development, known as Hooton Park, have been sent to Wirral Council.
One of the main objections was that the scheme would dramatically increase the volume of traffic through Eastham conservation village.
Residents were concerned about noise and pollution from lorries entering the site via Bankfields Drive and Powerhouse Lane. But if changes are nodded through at a planning committee meeting on Thursday, lorries will access the site directly from North Road.
Dr Ralf Trottnow, Biossence managing director, said he had initially wanted the access off North Road, but highways officials had objected.
He added: “When they saw the objections from local residents to all the traffic through the village, they said come back to us.”
He preferred the North Road option because the access would be closer to the M53.
But Matt Webster, from the Eastham Village Preservation Society, said: “There’s going to be emissions from the facility which is going to reduce the air quality. That’s my main concern.
“The proximity to the village is also a concern – it’s only 600m from the nearest house.
“They are proposing to deal with Merseyside waste, which is fine, but it could also come from Wales, Chester or anywhere.”
Planning permission was originally granted for the plant in January, 2008.
Dr Trottnow also revealed that since then the scheme had run into financial problems.
Biossence had hoped to secure a loan from the Alliance & Leicester, but after the bank was taken over by Spanish outfit Santander, the deal fell through.
Now the company has embarked on a joint venture with New Earth Solutions, which is planning to build a similar, 200,000-tonne waste disposal site in Widnes.
The two companies, Dr Trottnow said, hope to pay for both schemes through equity finance.
Hooton Park will now also be built in a number of phases. Dr Trottnow hopes the plant will be able to process 100,000 tonnes of waste a year by the end of 2010, but will not be fully completed by 2012.
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