A PEACEFUL public meeting over plans to store industrial waste in Winsford Salt Mine deteriorated into a rowdy protest on Tuesday last week.

Dozens of questions were fired at Roger Shaw - managing director of Minosus, the company behind the salt mine plans - and many people made it clear that they were hostile to the proposals.

At one point, one protester shouted: "I do not want this on my back doorstep and I'm sure you don't want it on yours!"

But Mr Shaw surprised everyone at the meeting, in Winsford Civic Hall, by saying: "For 21 years I have lived on top of some very volatile wastes in salt cavities underground.

"They've never caused me any problems. This is because the way they have been placed there is safe." Representatives from Cheshire County Council and the Environment Agency were also present at the meeting, which was attended by around 200 people.

Adrian Lea, of the county council's planning department, explained to everyone that he would be responsible for producing a report recommending either refusal or acceptance of Minosus' planning application.

He said: "My report will then go before the environment planning sub-committee in September and it will make a decision. But we do not anticipate this will be reached before October.

"We have had over 300 letters of objection and a petition of 640 names."

Although members of protest group RAMP (Residents Against Mine Pollution) complained that the mine development would have a detrimental impact on roads in the area, Bob Hindhaugh, from Cheshire County Council's highways department, stated that it would be extremely difficult for him to recommend refusal of the application on traffic grounds.

"When you put it in context of the remainder of the highways, it would not have a great impact on the local area," he said. "We already have busy roads like the A556."

Despite protests that the project could be dangerous, Mr Shaw assured members of the public that Minosus' plans were safe.

He explained: "Our objective is to use one part of the worked out mine for waste disposal purposes.

"It's extremely stable in the mine, there is no water or gas, it's totally secure, and most importantly of all with waste in mind, it's completely isolated from groundwater.

"We would not take biodegradable waste such as household as we do not want anything that would give out methane gas.

"Neither would we accept waste that would be chemically reactive, explosive or flammable, odorous or radioactive.

"Waste types we would take include dry, granular, solid and non-volatile."

Entry to the mine would be just off Davenham bypass, some 600m from the southern end of Moulton village.

Mr Shaw said that he was sympathetic to residents who are against the mine proposals, but he pointed out that waste has to be disposed of one way or another.

"We are human beings ourselves and we do understand that not every planning application is going to be popular," he said. "However, our view is a little bit different. We have been researching this for the past three years and we really believe in what we are doing. We do not think there will be a substantial impact above ground at all."

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