OPPONENTS of a scheme to build a multi-million pound Biomass power plant on the edge of Winkleigh say concerns are growing, not just in the village but in neighbouring communities too.

Around 100 people turned up at a meeting of the Winkleigh Parish Council-initiated community liaison group on Tuesday to air their views on the scheme.

The £37-million, 23MW biomass gas plant is proposed to be situated on a 12-acre site on the former RAF Winkleigh airfield to the west of the village.

David Lawson, secretary of the Winkleigh Society, said one of the major concerns was the suitability of the road network in the area to cope with the increased traffic the project would involve.

He said people feared a stream of large lorries heading through their villages bringing raw materials to power the generator.

Mr Lawson said: ?It is not just a Winkleigh issue, we had people from Iddesleigh, Beaford and Dalton. The mid-Devon road network is ill-suited for all the extra traffic; these lorries would be thundering through these small villages?.

Roger Barton, managing director of Peninsula Power ? the company behind the project ? has estimated that traffic movement to and from the site when it is fully operational would amount to approximately 40 lorries a day.

Concerns about the project were growing as people living nearby considered all the ramifications of a project of this size, Mr Lawson said.

He will travel to London today (Thursday) to meet DEFRA officials and representatives from the Forestry Commission to discuss local concerns about the proposed project.

John Turner, Winkleigh Parish Council chairman, said more detail was needed before a decision could be reached on the scheme.

?I?m not committed either way. There are good things that could come out of it, there are also a lot of headaches that could come out of it. I am reserving judgement until we have more information,? he said.

Mr Turner said Mr Barton had received a three-page list of questions from the community liaison group. He said Mr Barton had already replied with answers to some of the questions but many of them could not be properly addressed until an environmental impact assessment had been completed.

Mr Barton said work on the environmental impact assessment was likely to begin next month, and during August and September,

An information evening and a public exhibition would be held in Winkleigh as part of the public consultation exercise.

Mr Barton has said the development would be the largest of its kind undertaken to date in Europe and would employ proven advanced gasification and turbine technology.

It would use energy crops grown in the region, local forestry residues and clean wood waste that would otherwise go to landfill.

The Chumleigh-based firm hopes to submit a planning application to Torridge District Council in September.

Another meeting of

the community liaison group, which includes representatives from a number of different organisations in the village, including the parish council, will take place early next month.

The group has formed a handful of smaller working parties to look at various issues, including the impact on transport and on the environment.

Peninsula Power has been awarded an £11.5-million grant under the Government?s Bio-Energy Capital Grants programme, towards the £37-million phase one cost of the project, if it gets the go-ahead from planners.

Mr Barton forecasts the biomass project would create up to 100 jobs during construction, plus 40 full-time jobs once operational, with possible further employment opportunities when phase two was complete.