A SUFFOLK MP has welcomed the news that a waste disposal plant in a rural area has been removed from the county council's shortlist of proposed sites.

A SUFFOLK MP has welcomed the news that a waste disposal plant in a rural area has been removed from the county council's shortlist of proposed sites.

Conservative MP for West Suffolk Richard Spring said he was absolutely delighted Suffolk County Council had seen common sense and realised that a waste incinerator in Stanton, near Bury St Edmunds, was “totally inappropriate”.

He said: “I know my constituents will be delighted with this news. Many of us have argued that the site at Shepherds Grove would be totally inappropriate in such a rural area where road links are poor.

“When I met local residents at a public meeting earlier this year following a visit to Shepherds Grove, I made my views clear to the leader of Suffolk County Council that I was absolutely opposed to the facility being built there under the county council's core strategy.”

The Stanton site was dropped from the county's list in a report published on Tuesday.

Four incinerator sites to handle the 600,000 tonnes of waste generated each year by households and businesses - including some from Greater London - are still in the pipeline for Suffolk.

The allocated sites are at the former sugar beet factory in Sproughton, the former airfield at Eye, Mason's landfill at Great Blakenham, and the council's highways depot at Great Blakenham.

Guy McGregor, portfolio holder for roads, transport and planning said he was recommending to cabinet that Stanton be removed from the core strategy as it was the weakest site.

The naming of the four sites will re-ignite the row over incinerators with the Liberal Democrat group indicating it will fight attempts to construct them.

The strategy will go to the county's cabinet next month and will have to be approved by the full council at its December meeting.