Champagne corks popped in celebration last night over a Highland community’s victory in sinking plans for a £43million incinerator close to homes and schools.
Highland Council’s Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross area planning committee went against the advice of its officers by rejecting the proposals for a site at Invergordon.
It followed a passionate day-long debate at the town’s packed social club.
The plan was rejected in an 8-4 vote on the grounds of road safety, detrimental effect on amenity, breach of the council’s waste policy, as the plant would service a wider area of the Highlands, and proximity to the community.
Councillors had been greeted on their arrival by more than 100 placard-waving objectors. That number had doubled by the start of the meeting and most stayed for the entire debate, which ended after 5pm.
The exchanges were dominated by a perceived risk to public health, possible blight of the area and road safety dangers caused by a big increase in lorry traffic accessing the proposed site from the notorious Tomich junction on the A9 Inverness-Thurso road.
Combined Power and Heat (Highlands) wants to build an incinerator capable of burning 100,000 tonnes of non-hazardous waste per year, producing enough electricity in the process to power 10,000 homes.
Community leaders queued up to voice concerns about the potential emission of cancer-causing dioxins from a chimney at the plant, on the site of a former aluminium smelter in the Cromarty Firth Industrial Park.
More than 2,000 people had signed petitions against the proposal, warning it would blight the area and leave Invergordon the “waste dump of the Highlands”.
Jubilant residents celebrated the success of their campaign by cracking open a bottle of champagne on the doorstep of the social club and the celebrations continued last night at a number of homes in the town.
Midwife and mother-of-two Karen MacKay, of 55 Saltburn Village, Invergordon, said: “I feel absolutely fantastic. The councillors listened to reason. Nobody knows the real health impact and, until they do, the right decision was made today.”
Saltburn Community Council secretary Norma Young, of 46 Saltburn Village, said: “At the end of the day, the councillors listened to the people and that’s what democracy is.”
Senior planners insisted the proposal complied with the authority’s local plan, as well as national and regional strategies on waste.
Speaking of his disappointment moments after the verdict, company managing director Glenn Jones said: “This multimillion-pound plant would have created a substantial number of jobs.
“The technology has been proven over many years and has been used safely across Europe.
“We will now consider our next move, including whether or not to appeal.”
To meet Scottish Government targets, councils must reduce waste going to landfill to 5% by 2025. The nationwide level is now about 75%.
Celebrating the committee’s decision, Cromarty Firth SNP councillor Maxine Smith said: “Unanimously, Tomich junction was an issue, so I’m glad that will now be investigated. It will add impetus to that.
“But I am so disappointed with the officers’ report, which was not objective. It never mentioned the health issues. It was a centralistic agenda put together by officials in Inverness and was skewed towards granting it.”
Highland Council chief executive Alistair Dodds is considering a plea from SNP opposition group leader John Finnie to launch an inquiry into his senior planners’ handling of the application.