We write to alert Monmouthshire residents to a further re-consultation on the proposals at the Usk Valley Incinerator at Trostrey Court Farm, between Raglan, Usk and Abergavenny.

Some 18 months after the current application (ref DM/2018/01641) was published, Monmouthshire County Council has recently “noticed that the proposed flue is not referred to in the description of development”.

SWIPE (Stop Waste Incineration, Protect our Environment), concerned residents and amenity groups have all pointed out that the failure to mention the 17m flue stack as part of the proposals in the description on the Monmouthshire planning portal, is misleading. We also believe many people may not have registered their objection to the proposals, because of the incomplete description.

This has now been amended, and a further re-consultation on that element of the application is underway.

SWIPE reminds residents that there is an existing approval for (1) a 17m flare stack, which a previous application stated was “a regulatory safety requirement” and its 17m height a “critical requirement”; and (2) a 17m dryer exhaust on a building designed to lower the moisture content of the delivered fuelstock. Both of these stacks were approved in 2017 under delegated powers, but not constructed. They could be. And now, a third.

At 17m high, the proposed flue stack is designed to disperse emissions further than the existing short vents (which are of course non-operational as the plant has only ever operated “intermittently” and well below capacity, and not at all for some years). Take a look at www.plumeplotter.com/usk which shows, using the applicant’s data, and in real time, the predicted spread of emissions in the area. The flue stack would be almost as high as four Route Master buses, stacked up. As a critical part of the incinerator, it would be in operation 24 hours a day. As such, it would represent a completely alien feature in the unspoilt and beautiful Usk Valley. The most harmful pollution wouldn’t be visible, but would add to the threat to human health, as would the emissions from the hundreds of HGVs, many of which would ignore a voluntary traffic management scheme and pass through Usk’s historic but polluted streets.

It’s not too late to register your objection, either on the MCC planning portal, or direct to the case officer: [email protected]

Lindsey Williams

On behalf of SWIPE (Stop Waste Incineration, Protect our Environment)