IVYBRIDGE residents are being urged to fight to stop an incinerator being built on their doorstep.

Labour politician Luke Pollard urged a packed public meeting to unite against plans by waste company Viridor to build Plymouth’s proposed incinerator at New England Quarry near Lee Mill.

And a leading councillor called on more than 200 people crammed into an Ivybridge community hall to protest against excess packaging by dumping the wrappings from their shopping in supermarket car parks.

Dozens of people were turned away from a crowded meeting called to protest against Viridor’s plans to build an incinerator and landfill facility.  The company is one of three on the shortlist to build a £100million “energy from waste” (EfW) plant to handle domestic rubbish from Plymouth, Torbay and South Devon.

Viridor has said it will go ahead with the facility at New England Quarry even if it is not chosen by the South West Devon Waste Partnership.

The company is preparing a planning application, which it hopes to submit to Devon County Council by the end of this month or early in December.

“We can stop this incinerator,” Mr Pollard, the Labour Party candidate for South West Devon in the next General Election, said.

“After seeing people queuing in the rain to get into this meeting, we can definitely do that. If they want to build an incinerator there they are going to have a fight on their hands. Viridor has to work out whether that is worthwhile.

“The authorities have known about this incinerator for years and they haven’t said anything about it on the doorstep. Do something about it. We’ve got to stop this incinerator.”

Roger Croad, Devon County Council Cabinet member and chairman of the South West Devon Waste Partnership, said supermarkets had to be forced to cut back on excess packaging. Mr Croad said he would lead the way in protesting against excess packaging, which is adding to the waste mountain.

“I’ll be delighted to go to Tesco and leave the packaging in their car park,” Mr Croad said.

“It’s very important that they get the message.

“We need to reduce waste in the first place. We’re producing far too much rubbish.”

Angry speakers at the public meeting accused Viridor and councils of not keeping the public sufficiently informed about incinerator plans. Frankie Dolan, who helped to organise the meeting, warned that dependence on an incinerator would undermine recycling efforts and hit house prices. She claimed that some house sales had already fallen through because of the New England Quarry plan.

Ms Dolan accused Viridor of “dishonesty” by referring in its literature to an energy from waste plant and not an incinerator.

Janet Chapman from Yealmpton said New England Quarry was in a beautiful wooded valley full of wildlife.

“We already have Langage power station and we don’t need another blot on our landscape,” she said.

Mr Pollard told an audience that appeared to be united against the incinerator: “This community is proud. We don’t want to take our waste off to another part of the country – and nor do we want to ship other people’s waste into our area.

“We have to make our voices heard.

Richard Jenkins, Viridor regional operations manager, admitted that the planning application included landfill in the quarry for waste not suitable for burning.

He said that about 12,000 tonnes of toxic fly ash would be taken to a licensed site at Cheltenham, and would not be dumped in the quarry.