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People living near a proposed commercial waste incinerator have launched a campaign against it saying they have not been kept informed and fear emissions will cause health risks and pollution.

As much as 200,000 tonnes of commercial waste would be burned each year at the proposed £150m energy plant which would operate 24-hours a day at Newlands Road near Wentloog Corporate Park, Cardiff.

The company behind the scheme, Môr Hafren Bio Power, confirmed 40 lorries would also visit and leave the site each day, six days a week and there would be 36 car journeys, totalling 116 vehicle movements each day.

If agreed the incinerator could be running by 2021. The decision for planning permission rests with the Welsh Government and not Cardiff Council.

Residents opposing it have launched a campaign group and an online petition . A Facebook page for the group has more than 1,200 followers,

Following complaints from residents that they have been kept in the dark the firm has now extended its public consultation on the plans from October 4 to November 4. In a statement the company said “we strenuously deny the accusation that we have somehow been trying to hide this facility”.

If agreed the incinerator would produce 15MWs of electricity - enough to power up to 30,000 homes - burning some of the 900,000 tonnes of commercial and industrial waste that Wales currently sends to landfill.

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A group, calling itself Residents Against The CF3 Incinerator has been launched. The group claims if it goes ahead the incinerator will cause a health hazard, increased traffic and air pollution and say it is too close to homes and schools. They also question why rubbish would be burned and not recycled.

Group member and father-of-three, Tony Waite, 42, said: “This is not the right solution to waste and not the right location.

"This is three miles from the incinerator at Splott. We feel this area is becoming the dumping ground of Cardiff. There are concerns around emissions. This is also on a site of special scientific interest, the Wentloog Levels, and may affect fauna and wildlife.”

Insurance executive and mother-of-two Catherine MacArthur, who lives near the site in Walwyn Place, is angry that she never received a leaflet from the company, which said it has distributed more than 2,000 leaflets about the plans to local homes.

“Our main objection is air pollution this will cause. There is also the health risk of all the extra lorries chugging into Cardiff and down Lamby Way,” she said.

“The site is near to Eastern High and other schools. I don’t think they have publicised the plans enough, which has made people suspicious. It feels like they are trying to sneak this in under the radar.

“It feels as if they have chosen a low income area because they don’t think people will be intelligent enough to realise what’s going on. They shouldn’t under estimate us.”

Cardiff South and Penarth MP Stephen Doughty also said he has “major concerns about this proposal” and is making representations to AMs and Môr Hafren Bio Power.

Môr Hafren Bio Power said plans were at an early stage. No planning or permit application has been submitted but is likely to be in the next few months with a decision expected in spring/summer 2020.

The company said since consultation began in July 2019 it has held meetings with council officers and members, Natural Resources Wales, businesses and residents who live on Newlands Road.

It added that the incinerator will be subject to a planning application (which will go to the Welsh Government) and an Environmental Permit from Natural Resources Wales.

The facility would only burn material which would otherwise go to landfill.

“This is a detailed and highly consultative process to ensure that any proposed plant will meet the required regulations," a spokesman said.

“Môr Hafren Bio Power is committed to achieving the highest possible standards including that within legislation from 2019, considered by many to be the most stringent for EfW plants in the world.

“This facility will conform with these latest standards and unless we can demonstrate to the authorities that the plant will consistently meet these regulations, we will not be allowed to be operate.”

Cardiff council cabinet member for Clean Streets, Recycling and the Environment Cllr Michael Michael, said the development “has absolutely no connection to Cardiff Council” which has a long term contract to manage all its non-recyclable waste at Viridor’s facility at Trident Park.

“The council has not instigated any discussions with Hafren Bio Power to invest and develop a further residual waste facility within the city’s boundary,” he added.

“The decision whether the development can proceed is also not a matter for Cardiff Council, as in 2016, new legislation was brought into UK law to ensure ‘Developments of National Significance’ are determined by Welsh Government.”

After the planning application is submitted the council has five weeks to carry out a Local Impact Report.

The Welsh Government spokeswoman confirmed planning agreement rests with ministers.

She said: “We are not able to comment on specific schemes - to do so could prejudice any future role Welsh Ministers may have in determining a related planning application.”