THE campaign to stop a new waste processing plant from being built in South Marston has stepped up a gear with a public meeting attended by over 100 people this afternoon.

The plans, which council officers are expected to make a recommendation on within the coming weeks, would see what developers describe as a ‘renewable energy centre’ built on the Keypoint industrial site off the A420.

Campaigners have been opposed to the idea of the facility since it was first floated back in February- in recent months a group called the Stop Keypoint Incinerator Project (SKIP) has taken the lead.

They have met with the firm behind the scheme, Rolton Kilbride, and also with local councillors. Most recently they have been co-ordinating objections to the planning application.

The campaign group’s choice of name is a cause for some debate in itself – they choose to refer to the planned site as an ‘incinerator’ however that is not a universally accepted description.

What is being proposed is a gasification plant, a complex facility for taking household waste and turning it into two separate by-products – neither of which involve burning.

As the campaign’s chairman, Robert Ayres, addressed those gathered at the Grange Leisure Centre on Sunday afternoon, he said: “This site will process 150,000 tonnes of rubbish a year, that’s almost a tonne every three minutes.

“The reason I’m standing here today is I don’t want it there – not today, not tomorrow, not any time.”

The audience heard a passionate speech in which Mr Ayres went on to outline the objections the campaign has raised and which they suggest that residents raise too.

Among them were concerns about traffic flow, a fear that vermin may be introduced to the area due to the household waste present and the chance that the 52 metre chimney might interfere with the television or radio signal.

He acknowledged that the presence of toxic emissions, arguably the greatest fear associated with such facilities, was not actually a strong ground for objection unless it was in a scenario where the plant had malfunctioned.

That is because the gasification process being proposed is acknowledged for its clean air credentials, the government puts it in the same bracket for renewable energy funding as wind and tidal power.

Indeed in 2014, an application from Rolton Kilbride for a smaller gasification plant inside the Honda site sailed through Swindon Borough Council’s planning process – on that occasion the proposals were also backed the by the local parish council as well as the borough’s environmental health team.

A spokesman for Rolton Kilbride said: “Gasification is a proven, clean and modern approach to producing energy and the new site has been identified as an ideal location, within an existing industrial site.”

Planning officers are expected to make their recommendations soon ahead of a final decision by the council’s planning committee.