A plant which will turn waste into energy will bring waste into Rainham from other parts of Greater London and Essex.

Permission was given for the variation of the already approved plan to set up the renewable energy facility at the Fairview Industrial Estate site, at Havering Council’s Regulatory Services meeting on Thursday last week.

Cllr David Durant (Independent Residents’ Group, Rainham and Wennington) opposed the idea.

He said: “For this application to be viable it will require most of its waste to be obtained from outside the ELWA (East London Waste Authority) area, contrary to the green policy of policy of obtaining waste locally.”

He said the whole plan was, in effect, being changed from its original proposal.

The plant needs to process 130,000 tonnes of waste a year to meet its capacity, but cannot obtain this amount locally.

The original legal agreement stated it couldn’t obtain waste from anywhere but Frog Island and Jenkins Lane, but these sites have now signed contracts elsewhere meaning that it can’t supply the new site with enough waste.

Cllr Ron Ower (Residents’ Association, Upminster) asked for confirmation that lorries delivering waste would not be allowed to travel through Rainham Village.

The variation was approved by nine votes in favour, with one against, with Cllr Steven Kelly leaving the room because he is on the board of the East London Waste Authority.