‘Our pretty UK town is about to be ruined by a £150m monstrous megaproject’

The Isle of Portland in Dorset is a ruggedly beautiful stretch of coastline, home to 18-mile-long Chesil Beach and making up an important part of the Jurassic Coast world heritage site.

The stretching cliff faces and seaside views could be rudely disrupted by an 80-metre-high waste incinerator proposed for the north-eastern corner of the Isle, however, which locals say would have repercussions for local health and the environment alongside its imposing visual impact.

The company behind the project, Powerfuel Portland, says the incinerator won’t treated hazardous or clinical waste but will “safely and efficiently” produce low-carbon energy from non-recyclables. It wasn’t enough to convince a Dorset Council planning committee, who refused the plans, but following an appeal and subsequent inquiry, the Labour government ruled in favour of the facility in September.

A fight continues behind the scenes – the campaign group Stop Portland Waste Incinerator has successfully raised £30,000 and hired a senior barrister to challenge the decision – but dejected locals are beginning to consider their next moves if the project goes ahead, and more than a few won’t be sticking around.

One such resident, Laura Baldwin, 43, is also a mum-of-one and Olympic sailor who competed in the 2004 games in the Europe dinghy category. Laura lives just 800m away from the proposed development and says she feels “really angry and anxious” about the plans, which saw hundreds of protestors take to the streets of Weymouth earlier this month, calling on the government to U-turn.

A final decision on the project was made by Rushanara Ali, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Building Safety and Homelessness and Laura, who voted for the Green Party in the general election, feels particularly bitter that something that will “be life-altering for thousands” came down to just one MP for a London constituency.

Ms Ali said there was “not convincing evidence” that the proposal would negatively impact health or biodiversity in the area.

However, Laura said the incinerator’s chimney stack, which would be in use for 24 hours a day and emit up to 200,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, symbolised “the destruction of finite resources, turning household waste into toxic sludge and slurry”. She also said it “contradicts” the government’s stated commitment to a zero-waste circular economy and decarbonising the grid by 2030.

The 43-year-old former athlete said local concern was amplified by the designation of land around Portland and nearby Weymouth as Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and the facility’s potential impact on the region’s world heritage site.

She owns her home on “one of the poorest streets” in the area and, despite recently turning her garden into an allotment and “putting all our savings” into the property, Laura says she would move away if the incinerator is built.

“Our lives are really localised and based here and we really love it,” the ex-Olympian said. “We’ve worked so hard to de-carbonise our home and if this goes ahead, our home will be powered by dirty energy, which weighs really heavy.”

One of the “only things” that could help their cause now would be the introduction of a moratorium on incinerators by Keir Starmer‘s government – something that was on the Conservative manifesto in the July election.

“I think this will be a major vote loser. People move to the coast for their health – now they’re having sleepless nights because of this. It’s heartbreaking.”

Jon Orrell, a Dorset councillor and Mayor of Weymouth, takes a similar view in both a personal and professional capacity. He said: “As a local GP for 30 years before being a councillor, I am very worried about the health impacts of the fumes and contamination from the burner, which is in totally the wrong place.”

A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesperson says the decision was made “in line with the recommendation from the independent planning officer” and the proposal “would not appear out of scale or out of place”. Powerfuel Portland has said legal efforts from campaigners will be “robustly defended”. The company has also said that no hazardous or clinical waste would be burned.