A woman living near Reading has slammed the council for failing to oppose a plan to build an incinerator which she fears could pollute the air and cause a health hazard.

Waste management and construction contractor J Mould has applied to build an ‘Energy Recovery Centre and adjacent Data Centre’ at its existing site off Berrys Lane, Burghfield which falls within West Berkshire Council.

The energy centre would work by burning commercial and industrial waste, with the fumes powering a steam powered turbine that would generate electricity.

Planning agents for J Mould have stated the incinerator would get rid of 150,000 tonnes of waste per year and provide electricty for both the national grid and a proposed new data centre on the site.

But a woman living in the West Reading area has objected, raising fears that it could negatively impact people in the town, and has slammed Reading Borough Council for not opposing it as well.

She said: “An incinerator creates CO2 which melts the ice caps. Its detrimental to the world.

“Most of the wind flow across England comes from the south east and moves north west.

“Emissions from incinerators are harmful for health, and cause cancers and asthma.

“These emissions ploom from the incinerator and will blow over West Reading.”

She raised fears that these health risks could affect people in Coley, Southcote, Whitley and Green Park Village, which has a primary school which opened in September 2020.

She added: “What they [the council] don’t realise is the CO2 emissions and polluting dioxins will hit Reading.”

The woman went on to call incinerators a ‘white elephant’ as more and more waste is being recycled, meaning the incinerator will not have enough waste to burn.

She explained: “People build these incinerators because they are on ‘the second level’  of the waste hierarchy – they’re seen as not being as bad as landfill.

“But in the next 25-30 years there will not be enough ‘feed stock’ to generate energy.

“As a nation, we’re trying to transition into a circular economy of recycling.

“There’s not enough rubbish now and in the future to keep these incinerators viable – there wouldn’t be enough rubbish to burn.

“They’re a white elephant- they aren’t financially viable and there’s not the input to keep it going.”

In response, a spokesperson for Reading Borough Council arguing that officers examined the plan when it was submitted in September 2020 and recently, and found no reasons to object on behalf of borough residents.

“This planning application is for the existing J Mould Reading Quarry site in West Berkshire, which is already designated as a waste management facility.

“Reading initially responded to West Berkshire’s planning consultation on November 2020 and while there have been a number of revisions to proposals, none have given cause for Reading Council’s local planning authority to raise any specific grounds of objection on the basis of the impact on Reading.

“It should be noted, the Council’s response was based solely on the impact on Reading Borough as the neighbouring authority, rather than any impact in West Berkshire.

“The impact of the proposed development on air quality has been assessed in an Air Quality Assessment submitted with the application.

“The assessment uses appropriate standards and guidance and found that the impact of pollutants released from the proposed development would be insignificant at all residential receptors in Reading.

“It is wholly for West Berkshire District Council to consider and assess the application in full against its adopted local plan policies and national guidance.”

You can view the plan by typing in reference 20/02029/COMIND into West Berkshire Council’s planning website here: https://publicaccess.westberks.gov.uk/online-applications/search.do?action=simple&searchType=Application

The Local Democracy Reporting Service has approached J Mould for a comment.