Visual Impact
The site of the proposed incinerator is very close to the protected Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) as well as the protected Severn Estuary.
The incinerator building would rise to almost 50m in height with the chimney stack a towering 70m. This would make it taller than Gloucester Cathedal and almost twice the overall scale. Click below to enlarge our illustrations (to scale).
The incinerator would be visible for many miles, including from many parts of the AONB and the Cotswolds Way, damaging views for locals and valued tourists alike. In essence, an industrial scale factory-like building would be imposed right in the middle of the countryside.
Urbaser's own planning application shows clearly that the incinerator would be potentially visible over a vast area, up to at least 15km away from the site. (See the map here - takes a minute or so to download due to size).
Here is a scale representation of the incinerator in situ, near Junction 12 of the M5, providing a highly dubious 'welcome to Gloucester', adjacent to the AONB. Something to be proud of, or reminiscent of a jumble of cardboard boxes in the back of a delivery van?
Undeniable Impact
Don't just take GlosVAIN's word for it that would be a huge and inappropriate intrusion to the
outstandingly beautiful Gloucestershire countryside.... The company planning to build the incinerator put it well themselves! To quote Urbaser: "We can't hide the sheer scale of the building', (The Citizen newspaper, 14th April 2012).
This facility would be built in Stroud district, yet Stroud, like the Campaign to Protect Rural England, like GlosVAIN, are strongly opposed to it on visual impact grounds. The CPRE in its objection to the proposal concludes that the "visual effects will be highly damaging....and that these effects can not be mitigated either by design or screening." Stroud and the CPRE's full reasoning can be found here.
See our slideshow of views from the AONB at Haresfield Beacon.
