Perth faces D-day over plans for a controversial waste treatment plant in the city.
Starting today, a local public inquiry in the Station Hotel over the next fortnight will examine whether Grundon Waste Management’s multi-million-pound waste-to-energy plant can be built on Shore Road.
The planning process for the compound set between the South Inch and River Tay is one of the lengthiest to ever dog the Fair City.
The public inquiry was triggered after Perth and Kinross Council turned down the Oxford-based company’s second bid to construct an industrial-scale waste disposal facility.
With a towering 100-foot high chimney stack, it has been labelled a ”pollution-belching monstrosity”, although Grundon insist this is a misrepresentation.
It has met with an unprecedented level of public objection over fears it could blight the environmentally-important landscape and prove a health hazard to the thousands of residents around the site.
There are concerns it will spread pollutants across the city as it treats thousands of tonnes of rubbish with a gasification process.
Nearby Perth Prison has also objected, claiming the continual noise and vibration from the plant could lead to enough unrest among inmates to spark riots.
There are also concerns about the ability of the roads network to cope with hundreds of lorries continually delivering landfill rubbish from across the country.
Perth and Kinross Council and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency are both against the plan.
Perth and North Perthshire MP Pete Wishart said: ”The people of Perth are sick and tired of this application. I just wish that Grundon would listen to and respect the message that they have already been given loud and clear.
”This pollution-belching monstrosity is not wanted in any shape or form in our Fair City.”
City centre councillor Peter Barrett warned this ”D-Day” should be the last time the people of Perth should be subjected to such an application.
He said: ”The fight against the incinerator and Grundon’s planning application has been a war of attrition and the efforts of Perth residents to safeguard our city have been huge.
”Churchill would have commended their blood, sweat, toil and tears. The planning appeal marks the beginning of the end of this battle and the last battle is the important one to win.
”I am confident that Grundon will be sent homeward, not to think again, but never to return.”
Grundon already have outline permission for a recycling plant at the current Holden Environmental premises.
It was granted in 2006 with the council officer unaware of the extent of the plans. To confuse matters further, the council owns part of the ground Grundon wants to build on.
The company insists the centre will deal with landfill rubbish, while producing enough energy to power thousands of homes.
The inquiry will be heard by Scottish government reporter Dannie Onn.
Sessions will cover noise impact, odour and air quality, conditions and landscape and visual impact.