Campaigners are celebrating after controversial plans for an incinerator in Swansea have been shelved.
Bosses at waste management firm Biffa have decided not to go ahead with its appeal against the local authority’s decision to reject planning permission for a waste incinerator in Llansamlet.
Schools, residents and politicians all joined forces after the planning application was first put forward in May 2019.
Swansea Council leader Rob Stewart said: “Great news that Biffa have withdrawn their appeal on the decision by Swansea Council planning committee not to allow the building of an energy from waste facility in Llansamlet.
“That is great news! Hopefully now the end of this process.
“Well done to the local campaign, the local councils and everyone involved in opposing the application.”
If the scheme had forged ahead it would have seen an incinerator installed, which would have burned more than 2,0000 tonnes of commercial waste a year within 500 yards of Lon Las School and within 250 yards of a nature reserve.
Dr Dai Lloyd, who backed residents in their fight and had also called on the Welsh Government to intervene.
He said: “The plans clearly flew in the face of the Clean Air legislation, proposing to place a waste incinerator within just a few hundred metres of Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg Lon Las and hundreds of homes.
“This campaign against the incinerator is a great example of what can be achieved when a community works together.”
Swansea East MS Mike Hedges also praised the efforts of the community in their battle.
He said: “It was the wrong idea, at the wrong time and at the wrong location.
“We are well aware of air pollution problems along the M4 corridor and this is within half a mile of the application site. Concern is growing about air pollution and the effect it has on health, especially young people and people with respiratory diseases.
“We need to be 100% sure that incinerators are not going to add to particulate pollution and at the moment, I believe we cannot have that degree of reassurance."
Dr Geraint Havard, Chair of the Action Group against the Incinerator, said: “As residents of Llansamlet, we have fought these plans every step of the way, and Biffa’s decision to drop their appeal brings a huge sense of relief locally.
“I am proud of the role that the community played in this campaign, and today is a recognition of all the hard work by many people to fight these plans. Residents in Swansea East can be proud of the way in which we have fought this campaign.”
A Biffa spokesman added: “We can confirm we have decided not to pursue this particular small-scale project, and will not be looking for a further site.”
