DEVELOPERS planning to build an anaerobic digestion plant at Fletcher Bank Quarry in Ramsbottom have denied that it would mean the green belt suffering “death by a thousand cuts”.

During an ongoing public inquiry into the proposed plan, Mr Keith Owen, representing Peel Environmental and Marshalls Mono Ltd, said the plant would not add significantly to urban sprawl and could not be built on a smaller scale.

On Monday, Mr Owen was questioned by opponents of the plans, which would see 45,000 tonnes of food waste brought into the plant every year to be converted into heat and electricity.

In response to a question from the council’s legal representative Mr Eric Owen, who claimed future development would cause green belt land to suffer “death by a thousand cuts”, Keith Owen said: “I don’t think the plant is a precursor to larger industrial development.

“It would do very little to add to urban sprawl.

“This facility is a renewable energy facility for which there is a great deal of pull.

“If it could be done in a smaller way and over a smaller footprint it would be, but it can’t.”

Protestors have argued that the plant would leave the town smelling of rotten food waste and would bring an unfavourable number of trucks to the site along Ramsbottom's roads.

Peel and Marshalls say the main purpose of the plant, which would be built and run by Tamar Energy, is to allow Marshalls to power its adjacent concrete manufacturing plant.

The companies have denied that the development would cause problems for the road network or nearby residents, citing job creation as a positive aspect of the plans.

Mr Keith Owen told the inquiry: “I think there is a reasonable prospect of some employment for people in Ramsbottom, directly or indirectly.”

He also said that he struggled to see how other potential sites for the plant could be “seriously considered” as viable waste facilities, and denied that there was not sufficient waste in the area to service the plant in the short to medium term.

The inquiry, held at Bury Town Hall, is set to conclude next week, and Eric Pickles, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, will make the final decision on whether the plant can be built.