Resource park protests gathering pace - Northamptonshire

From the Northamptonshire Telegraph

Travellers fear for the health and safety of their children if plans for a resource recovery park in Corby go ahead.

They have joined forces with villagers who are opposing the scheme, which developers say will create 3,000 jobs for the town and surrounding area.

Gretton Brook Estates Limited has submitted an outline planning application to Corby Council for the resource recovery park on Brookfield Plantation, between Corby and Gretton.

Families living at the nearby Travellers’ site in Gretton Brook Road, Corby, have joined campaign group Corby Against Rubbish Recovery Plant (CARRP) to fight the plans.

Traveller Griff Williams, who lives on the Gretton Brook Road site, said: “People think that we are squatting on the site tax-free but this isn’t true. We are the leaseholders of the site where we live and we pay our council tax.

“The waste plant will ruin our home and will be a danger to our children who live on the site. We are happy to be working together with Gretton villagers and we won’t give in.”

Grandmother Kathleen Joyce, who also lives on the site, said families are worried fumes from the resource park and additional traffic will put children at risk.

She said: “There are 13 children living on this site and we are worried about the health risk of fumes from the park.

“We’ve also been told there will be a lot more traffic, which is another worry. We intend to fight this all the way. We have enough to put up with because of the power station right next to our homes and now they are planning this.”

Gretton Brook Estates says the development, where companies would use waste to generate energy, is expected to attract more than £100m in long-term investment for Corby.

Gretton resident Austin Clark said: “We have to stop Corby from being turned into Britain’s dumping ground.”

The CARRP campaign group plans to hold regular meetings and will be organising peaceful protest marches. It will also be setting up a fighting fund and a waste plant focus group.

Protesters have also expressed concerns over the loss of wildlife habitats if the scheme goes ahead but the developers say it will allow tree-planting on areas of poor quality woodland.

Public consulation on the proposals will end on Monday.