NEW evidence has emerged that a waste recycling plant planned for Canterbury could be a health hazard to hundreds of homes in the city. Objectors claim that the Solid Waste Energy Recycling Facility proposed for Shelford off Broad Oak Road has untested technology and emits noxious gases.

And they are insisting that Kent Council Council's planning committee must take into account a decision in Western Australia where the assembly has just rejected a very similar scheme on health grounds by the same applicant.

The company behind the controversial proposal, Brightstar Environmental, has teamed up with Brett Waste Management to make the application, due to be formally lodged later this year.

Brightstar claims to have developed a completely 'green' system of turning waste into energy, known as SWERF . It works by pressure cooking waste followed by a process of gasification in the absence of oxygen. The residual gas is then converted into electricity.

It is that last process which objectors say, and Brightstar now concedes, does produce emissions. It is being promoted as the future solution to dealing with the mountain of rubbish currently being dumped into landfill at Shelford.

But objectors say it must not be approved if there is evidence it does produce potentially harmful noxious gases and dioxins. Jill Pollock and Dr Rob Povey, who both live on the Hales Place estate, are forming an action group with other residents to fight the application.

Mrs Pollock said: "At all the consultation meetings we have been to with Bretts and Brightstar, SWERF was being touted as totally safe and green, which was reassuring. But now we feel we have been duped by the whole process. The fact is that the report on the safety of SWERF was produced by consultants paid for by Brightstar.

"Now the company has been forced to admit to the Western Australian parliament that the system does produce noxious emissions, including dioxins. The location rejected in Australia is very similar to the proposed site in Shelford which also has a totally unsuitable road access through residential areas."

The Shelford SWERF facility would take tons of waste from Dover, Shepway and, if a new contract is renegotiated, Canterbury. The decision by the Australian parliament has also rung alarm bells at the city council. Although it will not determine the planning application, it can make representations to the KCC. And leader Cllr Alex Perkins says he has considerable concerns about the proposals and shares the local residents' anxieties.

Concerned ward councillors for the area, including Cllr Harry Cragg who represents St Stephen's, are now becoming increasingly worried by the proposal. He has arranged a meeting with Bretts and Brightstar next Tuesday to discuss the latest developments.

But Brightstar Environmental still claims it is the best solution to waste disposal. Spokesman John Simpson said: " We have one problem to overcome in an otherwise successful process and that is of an operational rather than a safety nature. Only when that is resolved and the process proved to the satisfaction of the UK Environment Agency can it begin operations in this country. We are confident that that SWERF will satisfy them."