THE man behind a plan to build a £40-million biomass plant in Winkleigh, last week told villagers his company has not being given enough credit for the changes they had made to the controversial scheme. Roger Barton, managing director of Peninsula Power Ltd, told a sceptical audience: ?There is one thing that is staring you all in the face. There were three chimneys on the plant and now there are not, but you aren?t even prepared to give us credit for that, and you should do.? It was standing room only in the village hall in Winkleigh last Tuesday week for a presentation and meeting that was originally scheduled to last one hour, but which continued until almost midnight. Numbers thinned out after the authors of the independent reports connected to the scheme gave a string of lengthy, highly technical presentations. Many members of the public walked out of the four-hour meeting before the end, unhappy at PPL representatives? insistence on answering only a handful of questions until all the presentations had been completed. The company held a series of roadshows and meetings at different venues throughout last week. The meeting in Winkleigh was the first chance for the public to make comments direct to the scheme?s developers, after an abortive attempt to hold a public meeting at Chulmleigh Community College last month. Following a question about supply of the plant, Peninsula Power said more than 50 farmers had expressed an interest in growing the miscanthus fuel crop which would be needed to feed the gasifier, although no agreements with farmers would be signed at this early stage. The company also confirmed that if its pending planning application was refused by Torridge District Council it intended to appeal. David Lausen, chairman of the Winkleigh Society, challenged Nick Hall-Stride, from experts Enviros, over why he had not consulted the US Department of Energy, the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory or those connected to the McNeil power plant in Vermont for the report into the proposed FERCO SilvaGas Gas technology which he had produced. Mr Lausen said after the meeting: ?I don?t think anyone was impressed. I think the promoters were just ticking a box, so they could go back to London and say they had consulted widely.? Peter Moralee, PPL technical director, said the timing of the announcement of the award of the £11.5-million grant from the DTI last spring had come as a shock to PPL who he admitted were ill-prepared to consult with the public at that time. He said: ?Although we had enough detail to satisfy the DTI we met their criteria, we hadn?t got that much material to give out to the public. That was an embarrassing situation.? Following the meeting, Mr Moralee said he believed a ?very significant portion? of the people gathered at the meeting were members of the pressure group opposed to the scheme. He said meetings in other areas had been more receptive to the project. The deadline for public consultation on the planning application lodged with Torridge District Council has been extended until December 16. l At the end of the week of public meetings held in the project?s catchment area, Peninsula Power said they had been delighted with the public response. PPL?s chairman Tony Fitzsimmons said: ?We have been impressed by the positive responses we have received from the surrounding parishes.? He claimed that a number of Winkleigh residents were annoyed by the barracking by protesters at the Winkleigh meeting and came to the presentations in surrounding parishes to get their questions answered. Mr Fitzsimmons said the meetings confirmed the ?silent majority were either in favour or just wished to hear the real facts to make up their minds.? The meetings had been well attended by the farming community interested in finding out more about growing energy crops and by young people who turned up to hear about the prospects for more local jobs, he added.