LABOUR councillors in Newport lost a bid to make changes to the council’s future plans for waste facilities, which they claimed would set a precedent for a incinerator to be built.

Councillor Ray Truman put forward an amendment to the authority’s local development plan (LDP) on Tuesday, calling for any proposed waste plant in the city to avoid the use of mass burn incineration.

They were backed by anti-incinerator protestors who lobbied councillors outside the Civic Centre before the meeting.

Labour councillors want any future facility to use the greenest, safest and most flexible solution, adding “the health of our inhabitants, the need to build maximise recycling and minimise carbon emissions will be paramount to considerations.”

They also called for all references to Prosiect Gwyrdd and Veolia’s proposed incinerator on land in Llanwern to be removed from the plan.

The party claimed that leaving them in would signal a green light to the application, which is yet to be determined.

Lliswerry councillor Allan Morris said: “There is a link between this plan and a planned incinerator in Newport - you can pretend all you want, but there is.”

His colleague, Cllr Ken Critchley, added: “What we are doing in taking this forward is committing ourselves to an incinerator.”

The motion was supported by Llanwern conservative councillor Martyn Kellaway who said he was “putting people before politics” in going against the rest of his party.

Council leader Matthew Evans said Labour members had missed the point as the LDP would have no bearing on Veolia's application as it would not be adopted for another two years.

The council’s head of law and standards, Gareth Price, told members the LDP only outlined what the council intended to use land for, and could not decide the type of technology which could be used in any future waste plant.

The motion was lost with 20 votes in favour and 24 against.

The draft LDP will soon go out to public consultation for local people to have their say.