PLANS to build a huge multi-million pound ?green? power plant on the edge of a rural West Devon village has prompted so much concern a watchdog committee has been established to monitor the scheme.
More than 100 residents packed a recent meeting of Winkleigh Parish Council to hear of the plan to build a Biomass gasification generator on a 12-acre site at the old RAF airfield west of the village.
The proposals are the brainchild of Roger Barton of Peninsula Power. He claims the scheme could create much needed employment, with the plant producing enough ?green? electricity to power 46,000 homes and businesses.
But fears over pollution, noise, smell, heavy vehicle movements, the negative impact on the local tourism industry and the sheer size of the scheme has prompted fear among villagers.
The first meeting of the parish council-led watchdog group, to include representatives from various village groups, is to be held tomorrow (Friday). Mr Barton is due to attend.
John Turner, chairman of the parish council, said: ?There have been a lot of rumours, people jumping to a lot of conclusions, but we need to look into it properly.
?There is the possibility of employment for local people, not just in Winkleigh. The are all sorts of things we could get out of such a big development, road improvements, that sort of thing.
?There are a lot of issues, with advantages as well as disadvantages.?
Mr Turner said a public meeting will be held in the village concerning the proposals, once more information has been obtained.
David Lausen, secretary of the Winkleigh Society, said the proposals had caused huge worry and fear in the village.
He said: ?I don?t want to exaggerate but people have rung me up in tears, people have come round to me in absolute shock that this is happening and that nobody will give them satisfactory answers ? it?s very, very worrying.?
Mr Lausen said in general, people in Winkleigh were receptive to ideas about alternative energy sources ? but said Mr Barton?s proposals ?just don?t add up? and to build such a huge plant at Winkleigh was not suitable for a rural area.
Mr Barton said his company has been awarded a £11.5-million grant under the Government?s Bio Energy Capital Grants programme towards the £37-million cost of building phase 1 of the scheme.
He said: ?The WINBEG development will be the largest of its kind undertaken to date in Europe and will employ proven advanced gasification and turbine technology.
?It will use energy crops grown in the region, local forestry residues and clean wood waste that would otherwise go to landfill. A second phase, WINBEG 2, is also planned.?
Mr Barton said his scheme could create 100 jobs during construction, plus 40 full time jobs during phase 1 and could inject £7-million a year into the local economy.
He rejected claims the project was too ambitious in a rural area.
?One of the reasons for the scale of the development at Winkleigh is the DTi grant stipulates certain performance requirements that therefore dictate the size of the scheme,? said Mr Barton, who said to produce less energy would still require the same size plant.
Mr Barton said Peninsula Power, based at Chulmleigh, was specifically set up to build and own the Biomass plant.
It already had offers of £21-million of bank finance, in addition to grant funding, and once the scheme received the go-ahead, the staff of around half-a-dozen would increase to about 20.
Mr Barton said there was ?a lot of interest? in his project and Peninsula Power would liaise closely with the community in Winkleigh as the scheme progressed.
Mr Barton said the development is subject to planning consent ? he intends to submit an application for the scheme to Torridge District Council by September.