Campaigners worry over waste site

The old NEG glass factory in Cardiff Bay

The waste incinerator is planned for the site of an old factory

Environmentalist campaigners say they fear a waste incinerator may be approved before residents are fully aware of the implications.

Friends of the Earth Cymru told BBC Radio Cymru's Manylu that incineration was "not clean... and not cheap."

The plan involves the site of the old Nippon glass factory in Cardiff Bay.

Cardiff council said it could not comment as the application was under review and various options were being considered.

Experts say that modern incinerators emissions are now strictly controlled.

But environmental protestors argue that the application by waste management company Viridor would create pollution and traffic.

The plant would process 350,000 tonnes of waste a year, with 250 lorries a day carrying waste to Trident Park in Cardiff Bay.

'Reduced'

Manylu has found that there was a licence for incineration at the site in the past, which might facilitate the planning application.

Friends of the Earth claim that few people living in the nearby Splott area were aware of the development, and that there has not been sufficient consultation with the public.

Haf Elgar of the campaign group said: "Coming at a time when landfill has to be reduced there are other options for waste disposal such as mechanical biological technologies.

"Incineration might seem attractive but it's not clean, not green and not cheap".

Local Liberal Democrat councillor Gavin Cox told the BBC Wales News website that Vividor had said it had distributed 4,000 letters in the Splott areas, but he believed the company had not carried out adequate consultation.

He said he and colleagues had distributed 12,000 letters in the Splott, Tremorfa, Pengam Green and Butetown areas to inform them of the plans.

He said Cardiff council had "bent over backwards" to help, and planning officers have agreed to continue accepting submissions, although the original consultation period had ended.

Mr Cox urged residents to e-mail the council's planning office at developmentcontrol@cardiff.gov.uk to make their views known.

Manylu is broadcast on BBC Radio Cymru at 1803 GMT on Monday.