A PROTEST will take place this weekend over plans to expand the Lostock incinerator, with one local councillor branding a decision to only allow four weeks for a public consultation ‘a disgrace’.

Construction of the £480m Lostock Sustainable Energy Plant (LSEP) at Lostock Works was given planning permission by the government back in 2012 and is still being built.

But the company – which is a joint venture between Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and FCC Environment – has submitted an application to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy to increase capacity at the site.

If the plans are given the okay, once operational it would see the amount of waste it is allowed to burn rise from 600,000 to 728,000 tonnes a year.

It would also mean a huge increase in the number of daily HGV movements at the plant from 262 to 434. Views are now being sought following the launch of a new public consultation which runs until December 2.

But Northwich Witton councillor Sam Naylor, who has been one of the project’s most vocal critics, has hit out at the length of the consultation.

He said: “To give just four weeks for the Northwich community to organise and formulate their objections is a disgrace and gives scant regard to the whole issue of climate change and protecting the planet.”

A spokesman for LSEP Ltd said an expansion would support Cheshire West and Chester’s net zero transition by generating enough sustainable energy to power approximately 148,000 homes.

They added: “The four week timescale for this stage of statutory consultation is in line with Government legislation.

“Residents are able to provide their views and feedback directly to BEIS by Thursday, December 2.

“In addition to this, as the local planning authority, Cheshire West and Chester Council has a longer period of up to two months to review the application and respond to the consultation.”

A protest march has also been organised for this Sunday (November 21) at 10.30am. It will start at Griffiths Park on Middlewich Road then on to the Lostock site gate.

Comments on the plans can be sent to the BEIS Energy Infrastructure Planning team by emailing beiseip@beis.gov.uk and referencing ‘Lostock Sustainable Energy Plant – Section 36 Consent Variation Application’.

The application can be viewed online here.

Copies of the documents are also available for inspection at Northwich Library.