A war-chest of up to £5,000 has been created by town councillors to fight plans to build an incinerator in Shrewsbury.

Shrewsbury Town Council finance chiefs agreed to spend an initial £3,000 to seek specialist representation ahead of a public inquiry into proposals by Veolia to create the facility in Battlefield.

The fund could be extended to a maximum of £5,000 if necessary, they say.

Councillors agreed they needed the help of experts if they were to be successful in the battle against the creation of the incinerator.

Shropshire Council’s strategic planning committee previously refused permission for the building of the incinerator but Veolia is appealing against the decision to the Planning Inspectorate.

The town council needs to present its evidence to the body by August 30, presenting its objections officially towards the end of September.

Councillor Alan Mosley said: “We have stuck to a plan and opposed this all along. We are quite right to spend a little bit on getting the best representation.

Problems

“We are doing the right thing for the people of Shrewsbury.”

A report to the finance committee laid out the town council’s various objections to the location of the incinerator, citing problems related to the historic setting of the area, the potential effect on future investment and public health fears.

“There is a disregard for the amenity of the local people in terms of noise, traffic flow and congestion and any measures to mitigate against such are sub-standard,” it added.

“It is unreasonable to expect local people to spend their lives barricaded in their homes with their windows permanently closed, forced to rely on mechanical ventilation as hundreds of waste lorries and other service vehicles thunder past.”

The report stated that residents living close to the site did not feel totally confident about the safety of incineration processes.

“They fear that the unintended and uncontrolled release of toxic substances into the environment from waste incineration could occur because of malfunctioning equipment, large changes in the waste feedstock, poor management of the incineration process or inadequate maintenance.”

Town clerk Helen Ball was instructed to appoint a suitable set of experts.