WEYMOUTH councillors have again expressed serious concerns over controversial plans for a £150 million waste incinerator on Portland.

At a meeting of the full council of Weymouth Town Council, councillors were asked to consider a response to the final round of Environment Agency consultation regarding the granting of an environmental permit to the company behind the incinerator plan, Powerfuel Ltd.

The Environment Agency is considering granting a permit for the Powerfuel Ltd incinerator at Portland Port.

READ MORE: Environment Agency permit consult on Portland incinerator

The process is separate from the planning application - which will be before the Secretary of State for determination by the end of September.

The permit, which must be obtained to run the facility, covers the management and operation of the site and the control and monitoring of emissions.

Portland Town Council is against the plan and also lodged an objection in a previous round of EA consultation in 2021.

The incinerator proposal was described at the Weymouth meeting by Cllr David Civil as being "about as welcome as a barge for asylum seekers".

Cllr Louie O'Leary said: "I am happy to recommend that we support Portland Town Council in their continued opposition to this application."

Cllr Howard Atkinson raised concerns around 'congenital deformities' which he said were "not fully explained" in an Environment Agency report.

The EA report said:  "We found no evidence of increased risk of congenital anomalies from exposure to MWI chimney emissions, but a small potential increase in risk of congenital anomalies for children born within ten kilometres of MWIs.

"The paper does not demonstrate a causal effect, and it acknowledges that the observed results may well be down to not fully adjusting the study for factors such as other sources of pollution around MWIs or deprivation."

Councillors requested that the final EA decision be deferred for several reasons.

They said the short timescale of the consultation of one month was not enough for the council to receive a report from scientific advisors, the new Government’s position on incinerators, pollution control, and waste capacity has not been determined.

Councillors also said they had concerns around the congenital deformities which were not explained in the report and the lack of detail on nickel and arsenic impacts on residents.

As part of the decision, the council also set £5,000 from the consultancy budget to be allocated to further work, if necessary.

The council will also write to new South Dorset MP Lloyd Hatton to express concerns over both the planning application and the environmental application for the incinerator.