PLANS to put a waste treatment plant between Abingdon and Didcot have been met with scepticism from residents and councillors.

The Waste Recycling Group (WRG) has submitted plans for a £20m mechanical biological treatment plant on the Sutton Courtenay landfill site.

The plant could sort and compost 220,000 tonnes of waste a year on the current site, and is being put forward as an alternative to the controversial incinerator earmarked for Ardley, near Bicester.

The facility would recycle household, commercial and industrial waste into fuel for coal-fired power stations.

But there are fears that if the plant was built, it would only be used to treat waste from London if the Ardley waste incinerator got the go-ahead later this year.

Sutton Courtenay campaigner Robin Draper said: “This sort of treatment should be carried out much closer to the source of waste. It is a greenfield site, it is a massive great building of high visibility and there is no proven local need.

“It is speculative building in the hope that they find a waste contract.”

Stewart Lilly, county councillor for Sutton Courtenay, said: “I do not welcome it with open arms, but I want to see how my community feel about it.

“Like any application it has a long way to run. I do question the viability.”

Alan Bulpin, of WRG, said: “We had public exhibitions in Sutton Courtenay, and we had a mixed response as you would expect.

“But it is now down to Oxfordshire County Council to make the final decision.”

He added: “Although London is endeavouring to deal with its own waste it will still not be able to deal with a small percentage of its waste for another 20 to 30 years.”

The application comes after WRG’s plans for an incinerator in Sutton Courtenay were rejected last year.

bwilkinson@oxfordmail.co.uk