A CONTROVERSIAL waste incinerator is set to be built at Great Blakenham, it was revealed today.Suffolk County Council chose the site from six shortlisted locations after whittling down the options from a possible 70 locations.

A CONTROVERSIAL waste incinerator is set to be built at Great Blakenham, it was revealed today.

Suffolk County Council chose the site from six shortlisted locations after whittling down the options from a possible 70 locations.

It is expected to be unpopular with green campaigners, affected residents and opposition politicians.

Campaigners in Great Blakenham are already fighting the planned Snoasis development which includes a giant ski slope, ice rink, casino, nightclub, hotel, restaurants, railway station and hundreds of new homes.

Eddy Alcock Suffolk County Council's portfolio holder for environment and transport revealed the news today.

He said: “This is a site which we consider suitable. We are not presenting it as the only option, another site could come forward in due course or another company which has a land bank could be found.”

A further five sites which were also under scrutiny were not revealed.

And John Field, county councillor for Great Blakenham today vowed to fight it every step of the way.

He said: “The Conservative Administration seems to be doing this in reverse. I would have thought consulting the public first would be the right course of action, rather than picking a site and then telling everyone they can have a view on it going there.

“All along we've been told that there would be six possible sites for an incinerator, what happened to the other five?

“I'm certainly going to be opposing this project; all the same issues and problems which the SnOasis development churned up will apply to this, only doubly so.

“That area is already suffering from HGV traffic and this will simply add more and more pressure to the infrastructure, further ruining the quality of life for people in my area.”

Debbie Parker, a resident from Chapel Street, which is near the proposed site, said: “It seems that Great Blakenham is a dumping ground for everything. I do not see the need for an incinerator here. In Norfolk they use a compost system and that seems to be much better.

“Maybe Snoasis will use the new incinerator in its advertising to attract even more tourists!”

n. Is this the right place to build the incinerator? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN or email eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk.

WHY AN INCINERATOR?

The Suffolk incinerator was proposed as the only viable way to dispose of rubbish because the county is running out of landfill waste.

Two alternative ways to deal with refuse had been considered - energy from waste with an incinerator on a single site, and mechanical biological treatment with refuse derived fuel on multiple sites in Suffolk.

The incinerator option, which includes producing electricity to power homes in Suffolk, would cost council taxpayers £541m over a 28 year period from 2011, while the treatment alternative had been costed at £893m, which is 69 per cent more expensive

Last week the council was accused of not placing a high enough value on the health of Suffolk residents.

An outline business case for the future of waste management in the county appeared to show more importance placed on disposal of residue from the treatment processes than on the impact on health of Suffolk residents.

But a council spokesman said that if the health of the people of Suffolk was any kind of issue the project would not go ahead.