ANTI-INCINERATOR campaigners are once again preparing to do battle after Urbaser Balfour Beatty announced it would appeal Gloucestershire County Council’s decision to refuse its plans for a mass burn facility at Javelin Park near Haresfield.

The multinational waste firm saw its proposal for the controversial plant unexpectedly thrown out in March by GCC’s planning committee, which voted unanimously to oppose the development, citing concerns about its visual impact on the neighbouring Severn Vale.

But last week, to the dismay of campaigners, UBB issued a statement confirming it would appeal against the council’s decision.

Javier Peiro, the company’s project director, said: "We believe that the application is in-line with all relevant planning policy and should receive planning permission.

"Given the recommendation of officers to approve the application, the allocation of the site within the adopted waste core strategy and the clear need for the scheme, we have decided to lodge an appeal with the secretary of state."

The proposed incinerator, which, if built, would burn 190,000 tonnes of the county’s household waste every year, including large quantities of recyclable and reusable rubbish, has faced staunch opposition.

More than 4,000 residents registered objections to the scheme and it is also opposed by a host of local authorities, including Stroud District Council and Cheltenham Borough Council, as well as a number of statutory bodies and conservation organisations, like English Heritage, Natural England and the Cotswold Conservation Board.

Members of GloSVAIN, who believe there are better, cheaper and more environmentally friendly alternatives for disposing of Gloucestershire’s waste, have vowed to fight the appeal.

GlosVAIN spokesman Diana Shirley said the group was not surprised by the appeal, which she said was a ‘direct consequence’ of the previous Conservative administration’s decision to sign the contract for the plant before planning permission had been sought.

"The contract requires UBB to do everything possible to secure planning permission," she said.

"It is outrageous that the Gloucestershire taxpayer will now have to pay for GCC's legal costs to defend their planning application refusal, as well as pay for a high proportion of the legal costs incurred by UBB."

The 25-year contract for the facility, signed by the Tories in September, appeared to suggest that GCC would need to give permission to UBB before the company could proceed with any appeal.

However, the authority’s chief executive Peter Bungard said: "Following legal advice and recognising contractual commitments, Gloucestershire County Council concluded that it had no reasonable grounds to refuse UBB the right to submit an appeal.

"The planning inspectorate will now appoint an independent inspector and a planning inquiry will be held to determine the outcome of the appeal."

Following May’s local elections, which saw the Conservatives lose their overall majority on the council, a motion was passed by the authority committing it to 'seek robust support to defend the unanimous planning committee decision in any appeal process that may take place in the future'.