Twenty parish councils are calling on Government Minister Hazel Blears to call in a planning application for a waste incinerator at Ardley.

They want the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government to appoint an independent planning inspector to hold a public inquiry to decide whether the £100m project should get the go-ahead.

The councils represent more than 8,000 residents from villages including Wendlebury, North Aston, Hethe, Fritwell and Launton.

In the letter, the councillors said they were concerned about Oxfordshire County Council’s impartiality in deciding a planning application.

Waste firm Viridor wants to build an incinerator at its landfill site at Ardley Fields, in Middleton Stoney Road, near Bicester, which could burn up to 300,000 tonnes of the county’s waste each year.

The county council is still deciding whether to push ahead with an incinerator at Ardley or an alternative site at Sutton Courtenay, between Abingdon and Didcot.

The parish councils believe the controversial proposalconflicts with local and national planning policies and has far wider implications than just in Ardley and the surrounding area.

Colin Board, chairman of Chesterton Parish Council, said: “The county council is under pressure from the Government to cut its recycling bill and waste that’s actually put into landfill, and as such is rushing it through.”

He said there were traffic issues and concerns over the technology proposed for the incineration process.

Bucknell Parish Council, which instigated the letter along with Ardley Parsih Council, said the county council had effectively let the market decide its policy — a mineral and waste development framework has yet to be agreed by the county and district councils.

A Bucknell Parish Council spokesman said: “Careful attention was taken to the content of the letter by research and reference and it was intended not only to inform the local parishes, but also to send a message to the county council of its disregard of correct procedure and public consultation.”

Jon O’Neill, of campaign group Ardley Against Incinerator, which has concerns about pollution, health risks and traffic, said: “This is another fantastic show of strength against Oxfordshire County Council and its proposed plans for an industrial waste incinerator at Ardley Quarry.

“Surely, now they will take notice of the objections not only being made by Cherwell District Council, Ardley Against Incinerator, and now the 20 parish councils in this letter, representing more than 8,000 north Oxfordshire residents.”

Andrew Pau, of the county council’s waste management team, said incinerators were widely and safely used in many countries and 20 were in operation in the UK.

He said: “The Environment Agency has strict rules for such facilities and would not allow anything that is unsafe.

“The Health Protection Agency has a responsibility to protect human health and would not allow anything that is unsafe.”

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