RESIDENTS living near proposed incinerator sites in a Suffolk village are being urged to get clued up and fight the move.

RESIDENTS living near proposed incinerator sites in a Suffolk village are being urged to get clued up and fight the move.

People living in and around Great Blakenham - which could end up with two incinerators - have been encouraged by one of the area's county councillors to get online and examine the Waste Local Plan (WLP).

The plan, compiled by Suffolk County Council, outlines the possibility that the village could end up with two separate waste disposal facilities - something Gipping Valley division representative John Field strongly opposes.

Mr Field, environment and waste spokesman for the council's Lib Dem opposition group, said there was a lack of clarity over the proposals and urged as many people as possible to voice their objections.

He said: “People are given the opportunity to have a view but it (the WLP) is not very clear. I can guarantee that most people don't really understand what's being proposed and how polluting it would be.”

As revealed previously in The Evening Star, last month the council identified five sites as suitable locations to deal with hundreds of thousands of tonnes of residual waste from commercial premises and households in its WLP.

The list included the county's highways depot at Great Blakenham, where a �500million incineration project is already in the pipeline to burn the county's household waste, and the Masons landfill site.

Mr Field said the plans also clashed with a desire to turn the area into a holiday destination, with the major SnOasis project earmarked for nearby the village.

He added: “Either this is a holiday area and you're attracting people in for a holiday destination, or this is a waste disposal area - it's difficult to have them co-existing.

“It's not what Suffolk should be about.”

A spokesman for the county council welcomed Mr Field's recommendation for people to examine the WLP.

She said: “This is a consultation and what we want is to hear the views of people that live in around the site and we would urge them to look at the website, come to the library and come to Endeavour House and read the papers and let us know what they think.”

She said there were a series of drop-in sessions taking place during September with details of times and locations on the county council website.

Will you be responding to the consultation document? Write to Your Letters, The Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN or send us an e-mail to eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk

Suffolk County Council's Waste Core Strategy consultation document is available to view at libraries, district and borough council offices, county council receptions and on line at www.suffolk.gov.uk by following Environment, Minerals and Waste Planning, Waste Planning and then Waste Development Framework.

The consultation will end at 5pm on October 9.