AN £80m energy-from-waste plant being planned for Kingmoor Park, Carlisle, would create up to 40 jobs its backers say.

UK company Verus Energy and the Finnish utility company Fortum, which specialises in clean-energy projects, are behind the proposal.

The plant – officially called an energy recovery facility – would take household waste and burn it at high temperatures to generate electricity to feed into the National Grid.

Verus says there would be no odours or toxic emissions, and there would be no nuisance or health risk to residents at nearby developments such as Lowry Hill or Story Homes' Crindledyke Farm estate.

Tim Jervis, a director of Verus, said: “There is absolutely no risk to health. We are extremely careful to avoid that.

“We are subject to stringent UK and European Commission pollution controls. The waste has to reach 850C or more for at least two seconds to ensure that any potentially-harmful molecules are destroyed.”

The scheme is the first major development at Kingmoor Park to come forward since the business park was awarded Enterprise Zone status.

Enterprise Zones enjoy simplified planning rules, funding for superfast broadband, a business rate discount worth up to £275,000 for each company over five years, and a guarantee that business rate income is retained in the local area for at least 25 years.

A site at Kingmoor Park East, next to the West Coast Mainline railway, is earmarked for an energy from waste plant in Cumbria County Council’s emerging Minerals and Waste Local Plan.

Verus hopes to submit a planning application to the council this summer. Construction could start next year with the plant operational by 2019.

It is hosting a drop-in event next Wednesday, from 4pm to 8pm at Kingmoor Commmunity and Business Centre in Liddle Close, Lowry Hill. 

The aim, the company says, is to explain its plans and “engage with local residents and businesses” before the planning application goes in.

A spokesman said: “Cumbria County Council has allocated the site for the development of an energy recovery facility and our proposals will take this allocation forward into a full planning application.

“The proposal will create local employment, divert waste from landfill and generate electricity and heat in a sustainable manner.”

A public notice advertising the meeting has been placed in The Cumberland News and Verus is sending letters to properties within 1km of the site.

Comments can be made in person at the event, by email to info@stephenson-halliday.com or by post to Stephenson Halliday Ltd, 32 Lowther Street, Kendal, LA9 4DH, up to May 13.