Incinerator bid 'could destroy farm'

A farmer living next to the proposed site for a waste incinerator in Telford today claimed it could "break" her business.

Janet Jones, of Redhill Farm, Redhill, said if energy giant Sita UK gets its way, the farm she has spent 14 years and hundreds of thousands of pounds building up may no longer be able to function. Sita is seeking permission from Telford & Wrekin Council to develop the new incinerator.

The energy-from-waste plant would be less than a mile away at Granville Tip, at Redhill.

The company claims there would be no threat to health or farmland from the burner, and it would be a clean way of minimising landfill and producing electricity for local firms.

Mrs Jones, 63, runs the farm with her husband John, 71, and son James, 37.

She said they were concerned the incinerator might emit harmful toxic fumes, which could contaminate their carp, livestock and crops, blighting the farm's operation.

Mrs Jones is also concerned about the potential health risks.

"If it contaminated our food it would break us, we would not be able to sell anything," she said.

"We all like it here a lot and we don't want to leave, but it would break us."

Gordon Tonkinson, another farmer from nearby Sheriffhales, said: "We as a farming industry should not have to be subjected to something like this. We are pre-empting what may well be a catastrophe."

Geraint Rees, for Sita UK, has accused objectors of being swayed by "wild claims with no factual basis".

By Abigail Bates