A PARISH council is demanding a re-think over the technology used to dispose of the county’s waste in its latest bid to halt an incinerator in Ardley.

The move comes after the public inquiry over waste firm Viridor’s proposal to build a £100m Incinerator at Ardley, near Bicester, finished.

Joint inspectors are expected to report to Eric Pickles, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, by the first week in November, after which he will make a decision. No date has been set.

Meanwhile, campaign group Ardley Against the Incinerator, parish councils and residents are gearing up to fight a second planning application by Viridor for the facility.

Hazel Watt, of Bucknell Parish Council, wants waste authority Oxfordshire County Council to hold off signing contracts for the incinerator.

She said councillors should seriously consider a new planning application by Waste Recycling Group (WRG) for a more eco-friendly mechanical biological treatment plant (MBT) at its landfill site in Sutton Courtenay.

Ms Watt, who represented the village throughout the three-week inquiry, said: “It has been suggested that the incinerator scheme is the only one currently on offer within the county.

“We understand that during the course of the public inquiry, WRG has submitted an application for an MBT facility at Sutton Courtenay, which presents the county with alternative options.

“Viridor has faced opposition to incineration in other parts of the UK and have offered alternative waste treatment solutions.

“Why was such an offer not made to OCC?

“We do not consider it an exaggeration to say that this proposal will devastate our way of life.”

County council spokesman Owen Morton said last year both Viridor and WRG had submitted proposals for an incinerator at Ardley and Sutton Courtenay respectively.

He added: “The county council is aware that WRG is now proposing an MBT facility at Sutton Courtenay.

“However, a planning application has not yet been submitted and this technology was not that chosen by WRG to tender to the council.

“The council remained technology neutral during the procurement process.

“Any technology could have been proposed and all the bids that came forward were for energy from waste technology.”