MONMOUTHSHIRE County Council (MCC) has given the environmental all-clear to a proposed waste disposal plant despite community concerns.

The application for erection of two flute stacks (to facilitate the thermal treatment of non-hazardous waste types) at a unit in Severn Bridge Industrial Estate was first submitted in June of this year.

Last week the application came before Caerwent Community Council who recommended refusal on a number of grounds.

They contended that there was insufficient information provided regarding the monitoring of discharge on non-prevalent winds as well as prevalent winds.

Other objections included: The application was not the sort of operation to be next to a residential area; it could deter clean industries from locating in the estate and it could increase the traffic in surrounding villages.

This comes in addition to more than 200 objections submitted against the application.

There is however, not a consensus surrounding the environmental concerns.

Correspondence submitted by MCC confirms that an Environmental Statement is not required to support the application and the proposal is unlikely to result in a significant adverse effect on the environment.

This conclusion was reached taking into account the scale and nature of the proposed flute stacks, the size of the site, the existing use of the site and possible effects from the proposal. In many of these cases it was determined the facility would have a significant affect as it “will be controlled by permit and modelling data states below relevant harmful thresholds”.

MCC confirmed the application will be coming before its planning committee but it will not be on the October 2017 agenda.