THERE are fears that a new renewable energy plant planned for the banks of the River Wye is now one step closer following the granting of a certificate of proposed lawful use or development.

Crossdean Ltd have been granted permission for a biomass processing plant to operate on the site of the old Stelrad radiator processing plant in Hadnock Road, Monmouth, last used by Castle Corrugated in 2007.

But local resident and retired chemist, George Boyce, speaking for the ad hoc group of protestors against the scheme, said they are mainly concerned about emissions from the plant and the effect it could have on the health of the community.

Mr Boyce said: "We fear that Monmouthshire County Council in granting this certificate for a biomass plant is a precursor for the developer's main ambition to create a pyrolysis power plant - the thermochemical decomposition of organic material in the absence of oxygen.

"This certificate allows Crossdean to process waste material, which encompasses anything organic like wood, animal carcasses and even sewage, into pellets. The certificate does not allow them to dispose of the pellets by incineration, these have to be transported elsewhere for disposal.

"However, we believe it will not be long before they will be offering to save on transportation costs and seek to install the pyrolysis power plant, which is still going through the planning process."

Crossdean Ltd has submitted a number of reports and surveys as part of its planning application. But Mr Boyce, who has also carried out his own assessment of the site, said that the company is using outdated data and that the prognosis was not good.

He added: "Since 2009 the demographic of Hadnock Road has changed. We now have a school located in Hadnock Road and while there are still a number of light industrial units in the road, the area is part of the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty which is promoting recreational use. We now have a cycle hire company operating here to tie in with The Peregrine Path which is aimed at cyclists using the old railway line which runs off Hadnock Road."

Crossdean is proposing to operate for 275 days a year between 7am and 6pm which means a lorry would be entering or leaving Hadnock Road every 15 minutes.

"Because of its close proximity to the River Wye, I believe environmentally the plant is in the wrong place," added Mr Boyce.

"The plant is also located in a valley and we already have problems with mist hanging around in the mornings and emissions from the plant in the future could be trapped by this natural phenomenon."

At a public meeting held in Monmouth over this issue in December, Dr Dick van Steenis, a Monmouth resident and retired GP who is an expert on health problems caused by harmful emissions told the audience that a plant like this located in a valley would require an extremely high chimney to carry the emissions out of the valley.  He added: "A chimney rising above the Kymin would be impractical at best."