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A proposed waste 'incinerator' in Swansea is facing opposition from thousands of people.

Swansea Council has been inundated with objections from the public, with more than 2,000 comments lodged to date against a bid by Biffa Waste Services to create an energy recovery facility to deal with 21,000 tonnes of trade waste.

Clarion Close is an existing Biffa waste management depot on Swansea Enterprise Park.

But there is currently no residual waste management facilities, meaning rubbish collected by Biffa is bulked up at Swansea Council's transfer station and baling plant, 700m to the south west of the site, and transported to Trecatti Landfill site in Merthyr Tydfil .

As a result, the waste management company, which has been around for more than 100 years, is looking for planning permission from Swansea Council for its proposal.

But the plans, which documents state would be a £5 million investment in the existing facility, £1 million into the local economy and create 15 jobs, have been met with horror by people living nearby.

They have lodged the huge number of complaints with Swansea Council's planning committee, and also created a protest group called Llansamlet Residents Against Biffa Incinerator.

NoemÃ­ Sierra, a teacher at Morriston Comprehensive School, is one of the thousands of people who has left an objection to the plans on the authority's website.

She wrote: "As a teacher at Morriston Comprehensive School I strongly object to the proposed project, which is not only in breach of WHO pollution guidelines, but will affect the lives of so many of our youngsters."

Health concerns

Debra Attewell, of Clydach Road in Morriston, expressed health concerns.

She wrote: "My asthma is so severe that I spend much of my day and night on an air pump. If this was granted it would very probably kill me."

Jacqueline Warden, of The Croft in Neath Abbey, shared similar concerns.

She wrote: "I wish to strongly object to this planning application on the grounds that the risk to the health and wellbeing of the human population, wildlife and ecology of the surrounding area would be too great.



"My father suffers from COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease), so an increase in airborne pollutants will have a catastrophic effect on his health and ability to breathe.



"The Welsh Assembly recently reduced the speed limit along sections of the M4 in an attempt to reduce pollution and create "clean air zones", so for this application to be approved would be an appalling u-turn that would smack of sheer hypocrisy.



"Similarly, our wildlife and agricultural industries would suffer the effects of increased pollution.



"In an area blessed with outstanding natural beauty and with a thriving tourist industry, the effects of such pollution cannot be underestimated on both a social and economic level."

And Jonathan Rees, of Smiths Road in Birchgrove added: "I have grave concerns for the welfare of my four children and wife as several suffer with asthma and they are often affected by changes in air quality.

"I cannot believe that the incinerator would ease this problem and can only see further problems as the air quality deteriorates following the building of the incinerator."

'Too close to school'

Councillors Ryland Doyle, Penny Matthews, Alyson Pugh, and Mo Sykes – have also pledged to oppose the application.

In a statement, the four Llansamlet councillors said: “We find this application is totally unacceptable to have in our ward, or any ward for that matter, especially as it is to be situated close to the heart of the community.

“We are strenuously recommending that people in the vicinity voice their objections. We cannot have this waste incinerator so close to Swansea Vale Nature Reserve, Lon Las Welsh School, and residential housing in Tregof Village and other parts of the ward.

“Whatever Biffa might say, it has to be health and an environmental concern and it is hard to believe they think this is a viable plan.”

The steps behind getting planning permission...

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Dr Geraint Havard, chairman of Llansamlet Residents Against Biffa Incinerator group, and Plaid Cymru Swansea, said: "With a high population density in the area and a particularly high number of children, it's inconceivable such an incinerator could be built in our backyard."

He added: "We were told we had 12 years to save the planet, and the government rejecting the Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon and accepting the incinerator would send out the wrong messages to Westminster."

Biffa said it would utilise an existing vacant storage building on the site with a small extension it said would be in keeping with the enterprise park.

The existing building is 38m by 30m, and 10m in height. The proposals look to create a 6m extension to the existing building, and install external filtration equipment, tanks, kiosks, and a 25m-high stack incorporating emission control equipment.

The proposed 'thermal treatment activities' would be undertaken within the extended building and be the subject of an environmental permit granted and regulated by Swansea Council, the plans state.

It would operate on a 24-hour basis, but deliveries would be limited to 6am until 5pm, Monday to Friday.

WYG, which submitted the planning application on behalf of Biffa, stated that the plan offered a number of economic and wider social benefits.

'Boost for economy'

The plans state: "The proposed facility will operate 24/7 and generate 15 new full-time employment opportunities based on a 12 hour (four on, four off) shift pattern.

"In addition, the development will support a number of indirect jobs and services from suppliers and companies in the local area.

"The proposed development will complement the existing services offered by the applicant at the site and thus secure/ retain these existing jobs in the longer term. The existing depot currently employs circa 40 full time employees, including haulage, maintenance, management and administration roles.

"The proposal represents an investment of circa £5 million by the applicant in the existing facility at Clarion Close. It is estimated that a minimum direct investment of £1 million will be injected into the local economy of Swansea by the proposals.

"The proposed development will also generate 0.4 megawatts of renewable energy in the form of electricity, which will be exported to the National Grid, and low-level heat."

(Image: Google maps.)

It adds that due to its location in an industrial area, opportunities would be provided to the local area for surplus heat to be utilised by commercial premises.

It also states that the presence of an 'on-site' energy and heat supply would increase the attractiveness of the Enterprise Park for new users with heat requirements.

'Concerns taken seriously'

A Biffa spokeswoman said: “We understand that the proposals have raised a lot of objections from concerned local residents regarding perceived adverse impacts on air quality and health and we are carefully reviewing these.

“We would like to emphasise that the proposed facility is small in scale and has been designed to only treat waste currently collected by Biffa from businesses operating in Swansea. This facility will lead to a reduction of 1,050 HGV movements per year between Swansea and Merthyr Tydfil with an associated saving of 63 tonnes of COper year.

“The plant has been designed to meet Wales’ Air Quality Standards and will incorporate continuous emission monitoring technology to ensure levels remain safe. Furthermore the planning application is accompanied by an independent Air Quality Assessment, including a Health Impact Assessment, which measures the emissions associated with the proposed facility against Welsh, UK and EU Air Quality Standards. The Assessment concludes that the plant will operate below the emission levels set in all legally relevant air quality standards and will not have a negative impact on human health or the environment.

“A number of objectors have queried why the plant has not been assessed against WHO published air quality guidelines. The WHO air quality levels are not standards but guidelines for Governments, including the Welsh Assembly Government, to use when setting their own legally binding local standards. The WHO levels are therefore incorporated within the Welsh Air Quality Standards.

“We value all input into these proposals which is why we have already held a public event to gather feedback and will be responding to the council formally following the consultation period."

Swansea Council's planning committee will consider the bid.