PLANS to double the capacity of a controversial waste site could send plumes of toxic smoke drifting over the district, it is claimed.

Critics of a proposed plant on land at the 16-hectare Rivenhall Airfield say developers should start the planning process again after proposing “dramatic”amendments to the scheme.

Site owners Gent Fairhead have until March 2016 to start work after the Government’s planning inspector granted permission in 2009.

The new plans dramatically increase the amount of waste incinerated while halving the amount recycled, according to Witham county councillor James Abbott.

Mr Abbott said changes would see the incinerator handling up to 595,000 tonnes of waste a year, 98 per cent up from the original proposal of 300,000 tonnes and an increase of 65 per cent on the most recently agreed figure.

A spokesman for Gent Fairhead said: “This latest application for the Integrated Waste Management Facility (IWMF) is simply to provide the planning authority with the final design details of the permitted proposals as required by the conditions."

See this week's Braintree and Witham Times for the full story.