PLANS for a second power plant at Winkleigh have come as a shock to villagers already embroiled in a fight against plans for a large-scale biomass plant.

Peninsula Power, the firm behind the original plan for a biomass plant at the former airfield on the edge of the village ?which would generate energy using specially grown crops ? has announced it will submit a planning application next week.

But now, a separate developer has submitted plans for a second power station at a nearby location. The scheme is at an early stage but is understood to consist of a plant using straw as a fuel.

David Lausen, chairman of the Winkleigh Society, said news of the second application had come ?out of the blue? but he described the new plan as ?opportunistic?.

He said: ?We are determined to fight this just as much as the first proposal. Some people are anxious because they think of it as firefighting on several fronts but I don?t see it like that, I think people will continue to focus on the whole issue.

?The idea of a straw burning power station in this area is nonsense, we are not a straw-growing area.?

Peninsula Power this week set next Friday, October 15, as the date when its detailed planning application will be submitted to Torridge District Council

A spokesman for Peninsula Power said: ?The planning application has been delayed on a couple of occasions due to the complexity and range of the independent reports required to allow a proper and considered assessment of the proposals.

?This has included many refinements and improvements to the original plans stimulated by the expressions of local concern which have been considered in depth and, in many cases, accommodated.?

At the weekend, members of the DUST (Devon Under Serious Threat) group opposed to the biomass proposal gathered at the annual Winkleigh historic transport open day to boost the profile of their campaign.

The group raised a crane to a height of 42-metres to represent what they said would be the height of chimneys at the proposed plant.

However, Peninsula Power has confirmed there are no ?chimney stacks at all in the final plans?.

The spokesmen said: ?It really is a pity that the protest group couldn?t wait until these reports are published in full at the time of the planning application, so that they could devote their attention to real facts.?

?We hope that all fair minded people will listen to the real facts and make a reasoned judgement based on the evidence and not on misinformed speculation,? he added.