WORRIED residents want answers about a proposed biomass plant planned near their homes.

There are concerns the base, planned for a vacant site off Wouldham Road in West Thurrock – which will generate electricity – will pollute the air, drive down property prices and create noise.

Aplanning application for the plant was submitted to Thurrock Council last week by partners Procter and Gamble, Balfour Beatty and Nexterra.

Aneighbouring site was also lined up for a new Harris Academy school, but the academy was trumped when buying the land, also by Procter and Gamble, to expand its current operations.

Structural engineer Ian Sage, 43, of Hastings Close, Grays, said there were questions that still hadn’t been answered following a public exhibition last month.

He said: “How on earth can this get through planning when it’s so close to our houses?

“From my experience of working with these projects, there are too many questions that need to be answered. This is being rushed through.”

Retired Janet Hutchinson, 72, also of Hastings Close, said the proposals should be nowhere near homes.

She said: “I am furious because it seems big companies just ride roughshod over small people. I have complained to Procter and Gamble about air pollution and smells several times in the past.

“Something like this should not be in the vicinity of the community.”

The Gazette has been contacted by scores of concerned residents and greenwatch group Biofuelwatch revealed how Nexterra was behind three similar plants in the USA.

The proposed technology will see wood being burnt at high temperatures to produce gas, which is then used to generate electricity.

Thurrock MP Jackie Doyle-Price is also concerned. She said: “Procter and Gamble need to understand that West Thurrock is becoming increasingly resi- dential in character.

“I expect the planning committee to look carefully at the consequences for residents when determining this application.”

A spokesman for Procter and Gamble said: “Local residents were consulted about the proposals at a public exhibition in April, where they had the chance to ask questions.

“Letters were sent to more than 2,500 households in the area.

“And an advert detailing the exhibition was printed in the Thurrock Gazette.”

Campaigners unhappy with proposal

GREENWATCH group Biofuelwatch has raised concerns over the company lined up to build the plant.

The group claims Nexterra has only built three of this type of plant before, all of which are in the US, but the group claims they all ran into difficulties.

According to thestate.com, the plant at the University of South Carolina has an explosion in 2009. No one was hurt but the report states that university officials were concerned about a “potentially lethal accident”.

Another, at the University of British Columbia, failed early on and now runs on separate technology altogether.

A spokeswoman for the group said: “One of the main concerns is that biomass gasification for electricity is not an established technology so it raises serious health and safety concerns and the chance of an explosion is much higher in my opinion.

“It’s not something Nexterra ever managed to get to work anywhere so why now?”

The technology behind the proposals

THE technology proposed for the West Thurrock site will see wood being burnt at high temperatures to produce gas, which is then used to generate electricity.

Biomass gasifier plants are classed as renewable energy but run by burning chemically–treated waste wood or wood cut down from forests to make electricity, which green groups say is a cause of forest destruction.

The proposal would generate electricity for the Procter and Gamble factory and some would be sold to the National Grid.