Shropshire Council will be paying back the costs of an appeal into plans for an incinerator in Shrewsbury for decades to come, the authority has revealed.

The estimated total cost of a public inquiry over plans by waste firm Veolia to build the plant at Battlefield Enterprise Park stands at £843,895, with council taxpayers set to foot a large proportion of the bill.

The council has refused to reveal what percentage of the costs it will be paying, claiming it is ‘not in the public interest’ for the figure to be revealed.

But Councillor Alan Mosley said he had previously been told by officers that the authority may be liable for up to 90 per cent of Veolia’s costs, due to a clause in the waste management contract signed between the two parties in 2007.

To help pay its part of the bill and avoid the need to make cuts to other services, the council will be spreading the cost over the remainder of its 27-year contract signed with Veolia – meaning it may not finish paying back the bill until 2034.

Councillor Mike Owen, a cabinet member at the authority, said: “The energy from waste facility appeal costs will be paid for over the remaining life of the waste management contract from existing budgets.”

Veolia launched the appeal after its plans were unanimously rejected by members of a council planning committee in 2010.

An inquiry headed by planning inspector John Woolcock took place during autumn last year, lasting for about six weeks and hearing evidence from a host of witnesses, including representatives from Shrewsbury Friends of the Earth and Battlefield 1403.

Veolia, represented by QC Rhodri Price Lewis at the inquiry, also put forward 12 witnesses to support its case that the burner should be given the go-ahead.

According to waste firm, the proposed burner could provide enough energy to power 10,000 homes. The company also claims that it would be a preferable alternative to sending waste to landfill.

But opponents claim the scale of the planned site is unsuitable for Shrewsbury, while waste may need to be shipped in from outside Shropshire for the plant to run efficiently.

A decision on whether the incinerator can go ahead is due later this month.