Outrage at £820,000 bill for Shrewsbury burner appeal

Outrage greeted today's news that Shropshire taxpayers must pay £820,000 to fund the Shrewsbury incinerator appeal.

Campaigners say they cannot understand why Shropshire Council allowed there to be a clause in the 27 year contract it signed with Veolia Environmental Services in 2007, which meant the authority was left liable for 90 per cent of the costs of the hearing.

And they say their own grandchildren will still be paying the bill for an incinerator few people wanted.

Anti-incinerator campaigner Joyce Jagger, who runs the Battlefield 1403 site which includes a visitor centre near where the facility will be built, said she was 'shocked' by the costs and called for the council's contract with Veolia to be renegotiated.

"The whole thing is staggering and it is just shocking. If I start to think about it I get really worked up. The whole thing is just wrong," she said.

"I actually thought it would have been more than that. The council should renegotiate the contract. My grandson, who is six years old, will have to pay for this mistake as he grows up. The council has made a very bad mistake and we have had this incinerator foisted on us when nobody wants it.