Incinerator protesters set for 'one last fight'

BUT IT COULD COST THEM £70,000 TO LAUNCH A HIGH COURT APPEAL

- By EDDIE BISKNELL Local democracy reporter

CAMPAIGNERS are aiming to raise thousands of pounds to launch a High Court challenge over an approved incinerator.

Public campaign group Community Against the Swadlincote Incinerator aims to overturn the decision earlier last month from a Government inspector to approve the facility off the A444 on the town's outskirts, despite more than 3,400 objections.

The campaigners have now launched an online fundraising website on Stripe, in the name of Willshee's, the company which will share the site of the new incinerator and which currently operates waste facilities there.

A spokesperson for the campaign says the judicial review route, which operates through the High Court, is the community's only legal route remaining to block the incinerator being built.

They said a barrister is currently assessing the group's case, at a cost of £3,000, to see if there is a worthy argument to proceed with.

The spokesperson says that the campaign will need a fund of £10,000 for legal costs if the group loses its case, and £40,000 should the case proceed to a full hearing in order to cover provisional legal fees.