Locals on an island that once hosted sailing events for the London 2012 Olympics are terrified their town could be turned upside down by a giant incinerator.
Fears are mounting that the development could send polluted air billowing from a huge chimney into family homes, cause traffic jams on the only road in and out of the island and send house prices plummeting.
Residents on the Isle of Portland in Dorset have feared the incinerator’s opening day for more than five years, when plans were first announced.
Portland Port on the east side of the island, shut behind well guarded gates, is the area’s biggest business, but is also viewed as public enemy number one.
The port brings in thousands of tourists every year from cruise ships, although one local told the vast majority hop straight on a bus to Bath or Stonehenge.
Yet, it is at the port where residents opposed the Bibby Stockholm barge which brought in hundreds of asylum seekers and now where plans are in place to build the much feared incinerator.
Developer Powerfuel are looking to build the £100million waste energy plant and insist it will not affect air quality or public health on the island.
Initially rejected by Dorset Council and with unanimous objection from Portland Town Council, it appeared campaigners were victorious in their efforts to defeat the plans.
However, the new Labour government steamrollered the plans back into action with a successful appeal, leaving Portlanders fearing their home could be changed forever.
Last September, junior minister Rushanara Ali gave the controversial plan the green light on behalf of the Secretary of State.
The Minister agreed with a planning inspector, who wrote that the proposal would not have detrimental health impacts, nor detrimental impacts to biodiversity.
Yet locals remain unconvinced.
A campaign group has since raised around £50,000 to challenge the decision at the High Court.
On Wednesday, it was announced that a judge had ruled in favour of the government, in another blow for campaigners against the development.
Portland sits on Dorset’s Jurassic Coast, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). It is a home for Olympic athletes who train at the Weymouth and Portland Sailing Academy. However, those claims to fame could all disappear, critics say.
The Team GB Olympic Sailing team currently train at the academy, but have suggested that they would move away if the incinerator is completed.
This forced the academy to release a statement, saying that the existence of the centre is dependent on the GB sailors, and that they too would be forced to move in that eventuality.
In the summer of 2012, huge crowds gathered on the island to witness the sailing events as part of the London Olympics.
That same summer Etienne Stott won his first and only Olympic gold medal in the C2 event at the Lee Valley White Water Centre.
He now resides on Portland, where he lives with fellow Olympian Laura Baldwin.
He said: ‘On a day like today, the wind is literally blowing from that part of the island straight onto our faces.
‘Our estate is 10 meters above the height of this top of this chimney. It will be blowing straight down our lungs, straight into our kids’s lungs and onto our gardens where we hang out and rest and relax, where some people grow food.
‘I mean it’s outrageous. To me, it just seems completely nonsensical. It seems like a triumph of a small number of people’s wishes.
‘There is almost too many wrong things to describe, why on earth do you build a chimney if it doesn’t matter what comes out of it?
‘They say the stuff that comes out of chimney is harmless. Well, why do you have a chimney? It’s completely completely crazy.’
Powerfuel has said the project will create 350 jobs during construction and around 45 permanent jobs during operation.
Mr Stott said that this will not be worthwhile if the sailing academy closes.
He added: ‘The academy brings in £5million a year to the local economy and 50 permanent jobs. In comparison, the incinerator is 35 jobs and the money that goes into that incinerator will be going straight into the hands of the Port authority and the and its owners.’
Laura Baldwin is a former Olympic sailor and has lived and trained on Portland for 20 years.
‘We are into our sixth year of having this hanging over us. We live 800 metres away from the site,’ she said.
‘I have that horrible decision to make. Should I leave my dream home. Should I sell my house. Can I sell my house?
‘I would feel bad selling it to anyone.
‘I am a keen sailor. I represented Britain in the Olympics. Olympic sailors do not want to train here if they switch that on.
‘My son is twelve years old. Moving would mean changing his schools, his friends, his football team. My family is here, my friends are here. I don’t want to move away.’
The proposed site of the incinerator sits at the base of a steep hill on the eastern coast of the island.
At the top of the hill, residents on Verne Common Road are just metres away from overlooking the top of the funnel.
While Powerfuel insists that fumes which will be released from the site will not be harmful to residents, many remain unconvinced.
Residents have also raised concerns about the smell from the burning waste.
Priscilla Osborne, 59, has lived on Portland her whole life.
She said: ‘We have enough noise from the naval base and if that incinerator is going to just continue churning all night long and all day long, it’s gonna drive everyone around the bend.
‘I am worried about pollution. We will just have to have all our windows closed or walk around with masks.
‘I think it could spoil the area. I love living here, it is quiet, peaceful and everyone is friendly and gets on with one another.
In recent months, the Netflix drama Toxic Town has drawn attention to the dangers of industrial waste products.
In Corby, 19 children would became the focus of an 11-year battle for justice – a battle that culminated with a landmark court ruling in 2009 and an out-of-court settlement a year later.
It was discovered that toxins from steel works left children in the nearby area with birth defects.
Waste incinerators are entirely different from steelworks, but locals in Portland have become concerned by similarities they have watched.
Susan Lawes, 67, has lived on the island for ten years with her husband Nick, 69.
She said: ‘I am totally against it. I was upset that they have dumped this on us.
‘I am concerned about the health risks, because they say there is nothing dangerous but in other places they have had instances of birth defects, in Corby
‘I am dead against it, we protested and gave money for them to fight it, but it is a done deal now.’
Campaigners have been protesting against the incinerator for more than five years.
A public consultation conducted by Dorset Council attracted more than 3,000 objections and a petition received 7,000 signatures.
Brian Strickland has lived on Portland for 32 years. His son works in the waste industry and has experienced delivering to incinerators in other parts of the country.
The 87-year-old retired train driver said: ‘My neighbours mentioned yesterday that there was an easterly wind coming in. He said when that incinerator comes in, we will be able to smell it up this way.
‘My son has seen incinerators in other parts of the country, he says to me the rats are huge, as big as cats.
‘The sailing academy are moving out now, because of the stink and smell of it.
‘It could well put tourists off, the cruise liners will arrive at Portland Port and it will be the first thing they see.’
Last year, Dorset was named as the number one council in the country for recycling.
The county recycled nearly 60 per cent of the waste collected, considerably higher than the national average of 43.4 per cent.
This led campaigners like Sandy Whitehead to question why Dorset was chosen for a waste incinerator.
Mrs Whitehead has lived on Portland since 2001 and is the treasurer of the Stop Portland Waste Incinerator campaign.
She said: ‘Who on earth would build an incinerator against a cliff in a cul-de-sac, in the setting of a UNESCO World Heritage Site, under a prison with 500 inmates. On an island with 13,000 people.
‘When our recycling rates are so great our local recycling centre was at 80 per cent the other week, would do such a thing?
‘Portland is a deprived area and I get pensioners sticking £10 notes through my letter box to try and support the campaign.
‘The people who live near the incinerator, their properties are devaluing now.
‘Five and a half years this has been going on and the people of Portland, this little tiny place have raised tens of thousands of pounds.
‘It just makes me want to cry because they keep plowing their money in and we haven’t been able to stop it coming in.’
Sharon Neil, 63, said the fragile road network could cause huge traffic problems.
Powerfuel previously stated that the facility will bring around 80 articulated lorries per day to the island, to transport waste to be burned.
She said: ‘There is only one road on and off Portland, so that will cause a lot of hardshship for residents trying to get to work and getting on and off the island to Weymouth, the traffic will be absolutely horrific.
‘On those roads that if there is ever in accident on it, there’s tailbacks for hours.
Debbie Casey, 65, was concerned that house prices in the area could plummet.
She said: ‘No one wants to live near an incinerator, so that will affect everybody.
‘If everyone choses to sell and move off, the house market is going to crash on Portland. They will all be worthless.
‘Portland gets wind from all four corners, so it is not just us who will be affected, people in Weymouth will be too. So it’s not just us being selfish because it’s our island. We don’t want it.
‘If the council don’t want it, the people in Portland don’t want it, why should the government overrule all of us?
‘It is so wrong and so many levels and Keir Starmer should be really ashamed of himself.’
Giles Frampton, Director, Powerfuel Portland, said: ‘The project will meet the treatment capacity shortage identified in Dorset’s approved Waste Plan so that Dorset can manage its own waste and not rely on similar facilities in other regions or in Europe.
It will also generate baseload (24/7) electricity and enable visiting ships to use shore power rather than their diesel engines, which will result in a general improvement in air quality in the area. This important benefit was recognised by the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government in her Public Inquiry decision letter.
‘In relation to environmental impacts, over a three-year period the Environment Agency (EA) reviewed all environmental permitting impacts of the Project, including air quality and health impacts. Following this extensive and detailed review the EA issued an Environmental Permit for the ERF to operate, stating in its decision letter: ‘that the permit will ensure that a high level of protection is provided for the environment and human health’. Local objectors, including members of the sailing academy, have provided no factual evidence to dispute the EA’s position.
‘The same local objectors recently brought a High Court challenge against the grant of planning permission. This was dismissed with the judge’s ruling making it clear that there was no legal basis for any challenge, awarding the maximum level of costs to the defendants and denying the objectors permission to appeal.
‘We hope to now work constructively with stakeholders including Dorset Council to ensure the benefits of this project are delivered.’