NORTHWICH MP Mike Amesbury has written to Jacob Rees-Mogg urging him to halt the expansion of a controversial waste incinerator in the town.

The £480m Lostock Sustainable Energy Plant (LSEP) is currently under construction after being granted planning permission by the Government in 2012.

But the company has lodged an application to increase waste input to the site from 600,000 to 728,000 tonnes per year.

Weaver Vale MP Mike Amesbury has now written to new business secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg, urging the government to reject the proposed variation given the 'strength of feeling in the community'. It follows a similar plea from Mr Amesbury to his predecessor Kwasi Kwarteng

In his letter, the MP wrote: “The proposed expansion will result in a 65per cent increase in HGV journeys around the site.

“There could be as many as 1,200 lorries up and down Griffiths Road every day with this project and three other waste processing plants either built or in the pipeline.
“These additional lorries will create extra noise, pollution, wear and tear, disturbance and safety issues impacting roads and residential areas, both near and far, when the operator should be utilising the available railhead.

"It sends out all the wrong signals as we head towards net zero emission targets by 2050."

But a spokesman from LSEP Ltd said the scheme will improve energy security and produce enough sustainable energy to power 148,000  homes.

He said: "We have fully assessed all potential environmental impacts  including transport, air quality and human health as part of our variation application.

This showed that the variation to the LSEP scheme would not result in any unsustainable impacts, and would reduce carbon dioxide emissions by over 270,000 tonnes when compared with the alternatives of sending the same quantity of waste to landfill."

He said the plans would mean LSEP could divert an additional 128,000 tonnes of waste a year from landfill, which he said would result in 'significant environmental benefits' and would displace energy that would otherwise come from a fossil fuel power station.

He added: “The LSEP will also support in levelling up the local economy by investing £480m and creating around 50 high quality full-time operational jobs with training opportunities to support career progression, as well as up to 600 jobs during the construction period which is now underway.”