PROTESTERS are calling on the Welsh Government tomorrow to respect local opposition to a waste treatment facility at the Nine Mile Point Industrial Estate near Cwmfelinfach.

The Lower Sirhowy Valley Residents Group and concerned residents are protesting to stop the new facility which they say will pump a dangerous pollutant called Nitrogen Dioxide directly into the valley and to allow over a hundred heavy lorries to use the B4251 road each day.

The protest is taking place on the steps of the Senedd building and a letter of complaint addressed to the Assembly will be handed to Rhianon Passmore Islwyn AM - who has previously shown her support for the residents group.

Natural Resources Wales (NRW) originally rejected an environmental permit application for the Hazrem Environmental plant facility at Nine Mile Point industrial estate back in January this year.

Following a public consultation regarding the plant, NRW ruled it could have a negative effect on local peoples’ health.

But, following a Hazrem appeal, NRW overturned the initial decision, saying the company “included extra technical information that wasn’t previously included in their application”.

Protesters from the Lower Sirhowy Residents Group say that the plant will pollute the air and people with pre-existing respiratory conditions will be at a “great risk of increased complications leading to hospitalisation”.

The group also say that nitrogen dioxide has already been recorded to be above the safe limit of forty micrograms per cubic metre along the B4251, even before the facility is built.

Former Ynysddu ward Cllr Jan Jones, said: “What do we tell Wendy of Cwmfelinfach, who already suffers from asthma, Eddie from Cwmfelinfach who is on oxygen or Kelly from Wattsville concerns for her son who has recently been hospitalised with respiratory issues? Do we need to tell them they have to leave the valley they have lived in all their lives for the sake of their health?”

In response to the residents calls for slamming the NRW watchdog for the u-turn on the decision, Anwen Davies, the principal permitting team leader for NRW, said: “People’s health and wellbeing is the most important thing to consider when deciding whether or not to grant an environmental permit which is why we carefully consider any kind of effect a facility might have on the local area.

“Based on a new assessment of evidence provided by Hazrem, and following further advice from the Local Health Board, we believe that the air emissions are within acceptable limits and will not be contesting their appeal.”