'WE'D LIKE TO MOVE NOW'

HOMEOWNERS NEAR APPROVED INCINERATOR PLAN TO SELL THEIR PROPERTIES

- By EDDIE BISKNELL

HOMEOWNERS plan to sell their properties after a controversial incinerator was given the go-ahead as they fear worsening dust, smells and traffic.

Four homeowners in the 18 historic redbrick houses in Woodland Road which sit close to the approved Swadlincote incinerator are in the process of selling their homes following the approval of the facility.

The incinerator, approved at appeal by a Government inspector following rejection by Derbyshire County Council would sit off the A444 on the outskirts of the town, on the existing Willshee's waste site.

Government inspector Paul Griffiths effectively concluded that the benefits of the waste facility in diverting waste from landfill and energy creation outweighed the "significant harm" to the area and its residents.

A spokesperson for Willshee's has confirmed that the firm will not be the operator of the new incinerator facility.

Now Woodland Road residents see the incinerator approval as the final straw, following frustrations with the existing Willshee's waste plant, and the impending concerns about disruption from the new 60-metre-tall facility.

Geoff Cooper, who has lived in Woodland Road for 50 years, said: "I don't want it. I am not happy with it, but what can you do?