HUNDREDS of thousands of tonnes of rubbish could be heading to Burn for incineration as part of plans by North Yorkshire County Council and City of York Council.

In order to head off increases in landfill tax, the councils have proposed building a waste incinerator at one of three sites in North Yorkshire – Burn Airfield, Dalton Airfield, near Thirsk, or Allerton Park Quarry, near Knaresborough.

The plans would see 450,000 tonnes of rubbish – the annual total produced in the county – sent on lorries to whichever site is chosen.

County councillor John Savage, who is against the plans and who organised a conference on the subject yesterday, said it would be a private finance initiative worth £65 million.

He said the winning bidder and site chosen for the incinerator would be announced in June.

The incinerator – or possibly two or three smaller incinerators dotted around the county – were expected to have lifespans of 25 years but could cost the taxpayer a total of £1.4 billion over that period.

He said if recycling rates increased and there was not enough waste for the incinerators, then because they involved private investment, rubbish could even be imported from the rest of the country or even abroad to keep them operating.

The proposals have also met with local opposition. Chris Phillipson, vice-chairman of Burn Parish Council, said in his opinion the airfield was too close to residential areas for an incinerator.

Mr Phillipson said: “The Selby area is already considered the forgotten area of North Yorkshire and we don’t want to be remembered when they are installing things like this. I find it quite galling that we can’t be considered for a bypass and we’re not important enough for money to be spent by Yorkshire Forward but we could be getting an incinerator.”

Coun Andy d’Agorne, who sits on York council, said an incinerator was not a solution. He said: “Do we want a sustainable solution or do we want to waste money on expensive plants that do nothing for the local economy or local environment?”