SEVERAL possible alternative sites for a controversial incinerator are set to be announced next week as county chiefs push ahead with plans for the £600million waste-burning plant.

Neil Puffett

SEVERAL possible alternative sites for a controversial incinerator are set to be announced next week as county chiefs push ahead with plans for the £600million waste-burning plant.

Despite a council depot in Great Blakenham being selected as the preferred location for the incinerator, county chiefs are expected to unveil a list of alternatives on Monday.

The contract for the massive project is currently out for tender, with Suffolk County Council saying it will consider bids for similar plants on other sites around the county.

However the council is remaining tight-lipped on which sites will be unveiled on Monday.

The Evening Star has learned the list of alternative locations is to be longer than the six-site shortlist debated by officers prior to the selection of Great Blakenham as the favourite.

That list was never made public although the Star revealed land at Clickett Hill, Felixstowe, as well as a further site in Great Blakenham, had also been earmarked as potential sites, following a Freedom of Information request.

It is believed that the former sugar beet factory site in Sproughton and the Works in Brantham were also on the list, although county chiefs have refused to confirm this.

Should those sites be officially named as possibilities on Monday it will likely cause concern among nearby residents.

A spokeswoman for Suffolk County Council said: “We are still working on the final detail of the document prior to the start of the consultation on August 11 so we are not in a position to give fuller details at the moment.”

The document, known as the issues and options paper, lays out planning options for managing waste throughout Suffolk in the future.

A consultation on the options will run until October 10.

Are you concerned by plans to build an incinerator? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN, or email eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk

IT was back in January that Suffolk County Council announced it had chosen a transport depot at Great Blakenham as the “preferred” site for the energy from waste incinerator out of the six short-listed options.

A preferred bidder for the project is not due to be appointed until June 2010.

The authority has said it chose a preferred site to ensure the tendering process is “competitive” although it has not ruled out considering bids to build the incinerator on other sites.

A campaign is already under way to prevent construction of an incinerator in Great Blakenham.

Concerns have been raised that the incinerator will churn out fumes that place people's health at risk, cause a slump in house prices and be a blot the landscape.

Meanwhile calls have been made for a public inquiry.